Summer 2026 Newsletter
Hey guys! I’m trying something new here, a Quarterly newsletter for my friends and students. This is mostly to build community in my studio and keep my hoards of adoring fans (my mom and my mom’s friends) up to date.
Musical Musings
I am happy to share that I was awarded the First Prize at the Virginia Hawk Vocal Awards last month. I spent a lovely day sharing music with old and new friends in a lovely hall.
I can’t lie, I’m not the best at competing. I don’t know why, but I get way more nervous doing competitions than auditions or even performing, so I was very happy with how I did. I’m even more excited to invest that prize money in some new recordings for the next audition season.
The grind never ends!
Speaking of the grind, in my quest to continue growing my studio, YOU can help. Yes, YOU! by leaving a review on my Google Business Profile, you can help me
Technical tips for students
Learning
I'm currently learning an entire opera, Le Nozze di Figaro. Almost three hours of me running around in Italian wearing a cute maid costume. The secret is that is is separated into four acts. each act is separated into a dozen or so scenes. Those scenes are further divided into sections, phrases, and notes. I keep dividing the music into manageable sections.
"God is in the details."
-Stephen Sondheim
Practicing
Lately, I have been returning to Hannon's The Virtuoso Pianist. I'm no virtuoso, but it helps... I like to return to a piece after a while to see how my technique has changed.
Try playing or singing something that you haven't done in a while. does it feel different? What changed?
Performing
In the trenches of competition season, the horrors persist yet so do I. Even though I will probably never enjoy competition per se, it's important for me to receive feedback from judges who have never heard from me before. They give me a fresh perspective and tips that I might not have thought of myself.
Perform a piece for someone who has never heard you before and see if you can guess what they think!
Come See Me Perform!
This August, I will be performing the role of Susanna in Mozart’s magnum opus and my most favorite operas of all time, Le Nozze di Figaro! If you happen to be free on the last weekend of August, this is an outing. You will be hearing probably the most universally beloved operas in the repertoire sung by the best local talent. Obviously, I’m highly biased but I’m kind of working with a dream team for this one.
If you have read this far into my newsletter, thank you so much for reading and I promise not to spam you!
