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Defying Stagnancy

Posted byMezzoid Voice StudioPosted inUncategorized
Too late for second guessing –

Too late to go back to sleep –
It’s time to trust my instinct,
Close my eyes – and leap!
So now that my studio is full of wonderful, talented people, I have a teaching job at a university, and my remodeling project is almost done, what am I going to do?
Move.
And I’ve had second thoughts, particularly when I sit on my deck in my sky chairs on a nice evening and look out over my pond. Or when any one of my students sing particularly wonderfully (which happens pretty much every day).
But in an addition to being a teacher, I’m a singer. And honestly, I haven’t gotten to sing as much as I want to and as much as I still can. I proved that to myself in July when I sang in the Hal Leonard Showcase at the NATS Conference in Orlando. I proved it before that at the MacDowell Club Concert, singing the Chausson “Chanson Perpetuelle” with a piano quartet. I still have something to offer as a singer and, for some reason, it’s not happening here in Milwaukee.
I’m through accepting limits
’cause someone says they’re so
Some things I’ll never change
But till I try, I’ll never know

I can’t change that I’m returning to Baltimore 17 years older than I was when I left. (I was only supposed to be here three years!) And I can’t guarantee that I’m going to get singing work there, but since I’m not getting any here, it can’t be worse. I  haven’t been onstage in a role since 2004 and haven’t been in an opera since 2001 (I’m not counting 2003’s Viva la Mamma because my role was so truncated by the choice to replace recitative with dialogue that I only sang ONE solo line).
I am fulfilled by my teaching and I want to continue doing it. But it’s not enough. I still need to sing. Somewhere. And the fact is that there are more opportunities for me out east than there are here.  Right now I feel like I’m just treading water and not getting anywhere. 
Unlimited – my future is unlimited.

I’m here till the end of May (big studio recital on Mother’s Day – it’ll be a “Best of” recital!) and then I’m going back to where I was the happiest as a performer. I’m hoping that I’ll be able to combine the joy that I feel as a teacher with the joy I had as a performer. And maybe I’ll find that I’m happier teaching and will scale back my performing. But till then …
Everyone deserves a chance to fly.

I’m oiling up my wings in anticipation.

Lyrics courtesy of http://www.hamienet.com/lyrics90481.html

Published by Mezzoid Voice Studio

Christine Thomas-O'Meally, a mezzo soprano and voice teacher currently based in the Baltimore-DC area, has performed everything from the motets of J.S. Bach to the melodies of Irving Berlin to the minimalism of Philip Glass. As an opera singer and actress, she has appeared with companies such as Charm City Players, Spotlighters Theatre, Chicago Opera Theater, Opera Theater of Northern Virginia, Opera North, the Washington Savoyards, In Tandem Theatre, Windfall Theater, The Young Victorian Theater of Baltimore, and Skylight Opera Theatre. She created the role of The Woman in Red in Dominick Argento’s Dream of Valentino in its world premiere with the Washington Opera and Mary Pickersgill in O'er the Ramparts at its world premiere during the Bicentennial of Battle of Baltimore at the Community College of Baltimore County. Other roles include Mrs. Paroo in Music Man, Mother Abbess in Sound of Music, Dorabella in Cosi Fan Tutte, Marcellina in Le Nozze di Figaro, both Hansel and the Witch in Hansel & Gretel, and many roles in Gilbert & Sullivan operettas. Her performance as the Housekeeper in Man of La Mancha was honored with a WATCH award nomination. Ms. Thomas-O'Meally received an M.M. in vocal performance from the Peabody Conservatory in Baltimore. She regularly attends master classes and workshops in both performance and vocal pedagogy, and is certified in all three Levels of Somatic Voicework™ The LoVetri Method. Her students have performed on national and international tours of Broadway productions, at prestigious conservatories, and in regional theater throughout the country.

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