learning some new moves

Hey all! We'll see if our little sleepyhead lets me write this. Rowan went to bed almost an hour ago, but he isn't sleeping soundly. I imagine there's a lot on his mind. He's been developing new skills like mad recently. Even though he's only been crawling for a couple of weeks he's zooming around like a pro. He's also started pulling himself up and standing unassisted for short periods of time as well as strolling around with a toy walker. It's incredible to see his development.

Lately Brenda's rehearsal schedule has allowed her to spend more time at home, which has been great. From what she tells me, the rehearsals are moving along splendidly. She and her castmates have their first run through of the opera this evening, and they move to the main stage tomorrow. Rowan and I sat in on rehearsal Saturday afternoon. It's always fun to watch Brenda work, and her castmates seemed to enjoy meeting Rowan.

The local abc TV station did a short segment about Opera Philadelphia's upcoming Tancredi, and they interviewed Brenda for it. If you'd care to see it, you can do so here.

I hope you all have a great week, and we'll talk to you next Tuesday!

vampire baby

Greetings from sunny Philadelphia! After a few grey days the clouds have parted and we're once again loading up on vitamin D. Brenda missed the first couple days of rehearsal last week due to the flu, but she's feeling much better and has already learned most of her staging for the opera. Not bad for a week's work. The opera opens February 10th.

While Brenda rehearses I've been busy chasing Rowan around the apartment. His crawling has come a long way, and he seems most interested in those things that he shouldn't be playing with (i.e. outlets, power cords, and dust bunnies). He's been waking up more often at night, which we hear is a common occurrence when babies start crawling. And he's also started trying to eat Brenda. When she came home for dinner this evening Rowan tried repeatedly (and often successfully) to bite her. (Apparently I don't taste very good because he doesn't bite me.) He hasn't figured out "no" yet, although he'll shake his head and smile when you say it. It's a good thing he's so darn cute.

I'm hoping to do at least a little bit of sightseeing before we leave Philadelphia next month. We were here on a family vacation when I was a kid, but I haven't been back since. I have vague memories of The Liberty Bell, and it'd be fun to see it again. Brenda's rehearsal schedule is quite intense so Rowan and I may have to be tourists while she works.

I hope you all have a great week, and we'll talk to you next Tuesday!

Philadelphia

Hello! A lot has happened since we wrote to you last. First, Brenda performed a beautiful recital at Carnegie Hall with her friend In Sun, and many of our dear family and friends (and blog readers) were in attendance. Thanks so much to all of you who came to the performance. It was a wonderful evening.

Second, we both got the flu, but luckily Brenda's symptoms didn't fully hit until the day after the recital. We're both on the mend now, and it seems as though Rowan somehow managed to avoid getting sick. I'm very thankful for that.

Next, we travelled to Philadelphia for Brenda's upcoming engagement with Opera Philadelphia. The City of Brotherly Love will be our home for the next five weeks, and we're really looking forward to staying in one place for a while. We've been on the road a lot over the past two months, and we could use a break from packing our suitcases.

Finally, Rowan crawled for the very first time today. He's still getting his technique down so he's moving cautiously, but he'll no doubt be zooming around the apartment in no time. I'm going to nail all the furniture in place tomorrow.

It's fairly early yet, but Rowan has been getting up around six recently, which means it's my bedtime. I hope you all have a great week, and we'll talk to you next Tuesday!

NYC

Greetings from New York! Rowan & Co. arrived in the the Big Apple yesterday after a smooth but long flight. Our little guy took two short naps on the trip but was awake the rest of the time. I usually try to catch up on recent bad action flicks on long plane rides, but that isn't an option now that we're busy trying to entertain Rowan. He did quite well considering his age and that we're forcing him to sit in one place for over eight hours.

Brenda is currently at Carnegie Hall preparing for her recital on Friday. She's put together a beautiful program, and I've enjoyed little previews of the performance as she practices around the apartment. And thanks to BBC Radio 3 I've also been able to hear her sing Lulu again. BBC recorded one of her Lulu performances (just audio) and recently posted it on their website. It's available on demand for the next 25 days or so in case you'd like to check it out. Here's the link.

One huge perk to Brenda singing in the U.S. is that it's easier for our families to come to her performances. We're getting to enjoy time with family this week, and we will again in Philadelphia next month when Brenda performs there. We're really fortunate and thankful that our loved ones are willing to travel to see us.

I hope you all have a wonderful week, and we'll talk to you next Tuesday!

queen for a day, or four

Hey all! It's our last night in Munich, and Brenda is out celebrating after her fourth and final performance of The Magic Flute. The performances went well by all accounts. I even got to see the third one, thanks to some of Brenda's very sweet colleagues. Brenda wasn't on stage all that much during this opera (around 15-20 minutes total), so when she wasn't needed Rowan was with her in her dressing room, and when she had to sing some of the nice folks at the Bavarian State Opera kept an eye on him. Rowan wasn't thrilled about the arrangement. He's quite attached to Brenda and me (in that order), but he'll probably get over that by the time he's a teenager.

Thanks to all of you who voted for Brenda last week. Unfortunately, she did not win, but she was named runner up! If you'd like to check out the results for yourself, you can do so here.

We're off to Frankfurt tomorrow for a few days before flying to the U.S. next week. While in Frankfurt Brenda will be working with her friend and Carnegie Hall recital accompanist to polish up a few things on the recital and to get those mysterious French vowels sounding just right. (Just kidding. If you know Brenda, you know her vowels are already perfect.) Also, Brenda will probably do a little work on her next opera role, Amenaide in Rossini's Tancredi with Opera Philadelphia. The notes in that one move a lot, so she just needs to make sure they're moving in the right direction at the right time.

I hope you are all having a nice start to the new year. Until next time, have a great week!