On this Thanksgiving afternoon in 2020, it’s hard to find a lot to be thankful for. A year ago at this time, Thanksgiving was a respite from a busy fall of performing and teaching, to be spent with family. This year, it seems like just another day. We’re still preparing wonderful food (including a new recipe for me, cranberry sauce with cherries instead of apple – anything is an improvement over sauce that plops out of a can while retaining its ridges), but it’s just for the two of us.
(Note the “secret” ingredient)
This quote, from Amy Rodgers Schwarzreich and the book The Ultimate Musical Theater College Audition Guide has been in my notes for awhile. While I intended to write it about preparing for auditions, I think it applies to all the challenges we’ve faced so far in 2020.
I am grateful for all my friends, family, students, colleagues, and for the gift of music in my life. Happy Thanksgiving.
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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