how do you get to Carnegie Hall?

Hello all! As promised, here I am with a late blog entry! I leave NYC tomorrow, so I'm busy trying to see as many friends as possible before I leave. Alas, I won't be able to see everyone I want to, but that's how it goes! Hopefully I'll someday have a gig that keeps me in NYC longer than a week or two! 

I started out last week with voice lessons and getting new headshots taken. Both were successful! I really enjoyed working with the photographer, and we bonded over both being from Wisconsin! Check out her website if you'd like: http://www.kristinhoebermann.com

We braved the cold outside, and managed to get some 

really cool photos!

Chad showed up late Thursday night (unfortunately without luggage, but at least it arrived the next day!) and we celebrated his return to NYC after 5 years with New York style pizza from a place that stays open until 5 in the morning. We're not in Germany anymore! During the two free days before my Carnegie concert, we visited old favorite spots like Alice's Tea Cup. I used to go to this restaurant every year for my birthday, so it was like a belated celebration! It's a tea house with an Alice in Wonderland theme that caters to both adults and children. It's quite fanciful and lovely! 

Happy!

On Sunday it was time for my big Carnegie Hall debut! I felt so loved and supported by all the friends and family that came! The concert went really well, and the audience seemed to love it, which is always a good feeling. The hall is gorgeous, and it was an honor to sing on that stage. 

A friend took this photo during the curtain call, and in my head, it looks 

like I'm doing an Irish jig. Now that's all you'll think of too!!

My old friend Patrick came!

Patrick was actually my date this Valentine's Day, since Chad and I were apart. 

Patrick even got me these gifts! What a sweetheart.

With Chad's brother and sister-in-law and their two eldest. I hear the kids 

did great during the concert! Tyler apparently really liked being

"on the list" to go backstage! It was amazing having them there!

We had a wonderful casual dinner after the concert that another old friend of mine generously organized, and it was great to catch up with some people I hadn't seen in a long time! It felt a little like a wedding -- never enough time to talk to everyone you want to! 

Chad left on Monday to go back to law school, and I've been spending my last few days in NYC having more voice lessons, and seeing more friends. Which reminds me, I have to go! I go back to Iowa tomorrow, and I'm looking forward to a very relaxing time, just being a wife for awhile! Until then, have a great week!

Brenda was great! Tune in tomorrow for more...

Hey All! First things first, Brenda made her Carnegie Hall debut on Sunday, and she was outstanding. According to everyone I talked to after the show, the general consensus was the cast and orchestra were all fantastic. Believe it or not, it was Brenda's first performance in New York as a professional singer and her second professional performance in the US after her show last weekend. It was an outstanding way for her to be reintroduced to New York audiences.

As much as I want to tell you more about the weekend, I should probably stop here. Brenda has kindly agreed to write the blog entry this week so I could catch up on some reading and research. She is busy socializing today - she's still in New York and will be for a couple more days - but she will write a blog entry tomorrow. Before I go, I thought I would share a couple of pictures I took on my phone while I was in NYC.

 We had a nice view of Carnegie Hall from our hotel room.

This was my view during the performance. It is really a beautiful hall.

I hope you all have a great week!

sing a show, then see a show

Hey All! I just put down my legal ethics book for the evening - which is, by the way, the smallest book I've bought for law school (insert lawyer joke here) - so I could write to all of you before I turn in for the night. Meanwhile in New York, Brenda is at the theater. This may come as a surprise but, instead of seeing another opera, Brenda went to a musical. In fact, she went to The Book of Mormon. I'm very jealous.

As you may remember from last week, Brenda performed in Ann Arbor on Sunday. The performance was wonderful; the singers were all fantastic (that goes double for Brenda) and the audience thoroughly enjoyed it. The standing ovation after the performance was immediate. Our parents were there, and we all enjoyed spending time together while we sampled a few good restaurants around town.

The view from our hotel room. It was cold!

This weekend should be very similar to last weekend except with a different destination. I will be flying to New York for Brenda's performance at Carnegie Hall on Sunday. I'm afraid I'm going to have to end this post here. I seem to be fighting a bit of a cold, so I'm going to see if copious amounts of sleep will help me recover. I hope you have a great rest of your week and a nice weekend, and one of us will talk to you next Tuesday!

Brenda on tour

Hey all! It's been quite a week for Brenda since she wrote to you last Tuesday. She's had three performances all in different cities spanning two countries. The day after her last performance she hopped on a plane to yet another city, New York, which is where she is currently recovering from a cold. I'm getting a cold just thinking about all of that traveling.

By all accounts (which is to say, from what Brenda tells me), the performances were all very successful. All three of the female singers were sick for the performance in London, and an announcement was made before the performance to warn the audience. I'm guessing the the audience wouldn't have known the difference, but an announcement is comforting to the singers. It provides them with an excuse ahead of time in case a lung pops out during an aria. 

First stop: Paris

 Second stop: Birmingham

This performance happened to coincide with Brenda's birthday. Happy Birthday, Brenda!

 Third stop: London

It's not fair. I never look that good when I'm sick.

Brenda's next performance is in Ann Arbor, MI on Sunday, and I'm going. Actually, I'm hitching a ride with my parents. I may even volunteer to drive, although they'll need to read legal decisions to me so I'm prepared for class next week. It'll be nice to get out of town for a while; during the semester it's easy to forget that there is a world outside of law school.

I should call it a night, but before I do, let me call your attention to the brief blog entry I posted over the weekend. Brenda did an interview with the conductor of Radamisto on BBC 3 last Thursday. You can listen to the interview and hear Brenda sing two arias by clicking on the link in the previous post. Just so you know, the interview will only be available for another day or two.

I hope you have a great week, and one of us will talk to you next Tuesday!

Brenda on BBC

Hey all! I just wanted to write a quick post to let you know about an interview Brenda did on BBC Radio 3 on Thursday. She and the conductor, Harry Bicket, answered questions and performed two arias. You can listen to the interview by clicking on the link below. I've also included the starting times for the interview and the arias.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01qdzp2

8:05 - Start of Interview
12:05 - First Aria
22:00 - Second Aria
26:55 - End of Interview

Just so you know, the interview will only be online until Thursday or Friday.

I hope you're enjoying your weekend, and I'll talk to you on Tuesday!

parlez-vous le français?

Hello all! As Chad explained last week, I'm now on tour with a fantastic orchestra called The English Concert. We had a whirlwind three days of rehearsal, and our first concert is tomorrow. We rehearsed in London, but we're starting the tour off in Paris. I wish I had more time to enjoy the city, but we leave already the morning after the concert! The European part of the tour goes by very quickly, and I head back to America on Monday to await the next couple concerts. I'll spend about two weeks there (broken up by a trip to Michigan) and I hope to see a bunch of my old friends. That's one of the nice things about this career. I meet so many different people, and even if I don't live in the same city as my friends, something usually takes me back to those cities, and I'm able to catch up with friends! Case in point, last night in London I got together with a big group of people that I hadn't seen since the summer of 2011, and it was such fun! I have to thank Facebook for helping me stay in contact with all these people!

The street where the rehearsal hall was located. Between the buildings

in the distance you can see the famous London Eye.

An orchestral rehearsal of Radamisto. Harry Bicket conducts the orchestra while 

playing the harpsichord. The man standing to the right is 

David Daniels, who sings the title role. 

After rehearsal on Sunday night, one of my new colleagues invited me to come with her to an Evensong church service. I had never been to an Evensong service, and had always been interested, because most of the service is sung! The cathedral was beautiful, and so was the music. I love all the history that is present in these old cities, and was happy for this surprise outing! 

St. Mark's lit up at night. It looks a little spookier than it did in real life! 

I left my hotel in London this morning (they were kind enough to let me leave one of my suitcases there, since I'll be returning late Friday night anyway!), and in the taxi on the way to the train station (yes, train station! I took the Eurostar train from London to Paris, which means I got to go through the Chunnel! It was dark.) I spotted this little street! Chad and I will have to go back to it someday and see if it leads anywhere special.

Well, I should rest up for the big concert tomorrow night! Hard to believe that I'll be in the States by this time next week. Until then!

week three and counting

Hey all! Week three of the spring semester is underway, and I've already settled into my routine. I know when I'm going to do my reading for my classes, when I'm going to work out, and even what I'm going to eat. All I have to do now is begin the routine anew every week. The stress I felt my first year of law school has mostly disappeared, which is good as long as I maintain enough fear motivation to study adequately for my final exams.

My wonderful wife has returned to Frankfurt - at least for the moment. Her last performance in Frankfurt until May was on Saturday, and since then she has been preparing for her upcoming tour with the English Concert. She is performing in Handel's Radamisto in five different cities. Her last two performances will be in the US; Ann Arbor, MI and New York, NY (at Carnegie Hall). I will be at both US performances. 

After her tour, Brenda will be staying with me in Iowa for several weeks. It will, of course, be fantastic having her here again. We will also be able to finish decorating our new apartment. I took a few photos of the place so you could get a feel for it. Try not to get too attached, though. The bulldozer will be coming through as soon as I get my last box out in May.

 the living room

 the kitchen

Don't mind the blue tub in the bottom left corner of the picture. I will finish unpacking eventually. At least a day or two before I have to pack it all up again.

 the bedroom

I know. We need pictures on the walls.

My favorite subject this semester is Constitutional Law. It is really a fascinating topic. I would prefer that we didn't have ninety people in our class so we could actually have a class discussion of the topics, but it's a required class and this professor is very popular. He has a strict attendance policy and will only allow students to record the classes they miss if they have a good excuse. I asked him a couple of days ago if I could miss two classes. He asked me why, and I said that my wife is an opera singer and that she has some upcoming performances in the US. He responded, "Oh, you're the one." He happily approved my leave, but I was left wondering what sort rumors are running around about the guy married to the opera singer. Having been an opera singer myself, and therefore still possessing the requisite self-centeredness, I'm just happy people are talking about me at all.

I think authors of really popular books should release new editions. I would definitely buy a copy of the 17th edition of Harry Potter.

My routine tells me that I need to move onto my next task, so I had better say goodnight. I hope you have a wonderful week, and I'll talk to you next Tuesday!