My lot in this life...

I have always been a musician at heart.  As far back as I can remember I would blast any Music I could find and dance around the living room singing as loud as possible.  One of my favorite memories is singing along with my grandmothers vinyl records when I was little.  I feel like I was partially raised by Judy Garland and Bing Crosby. :)
In middle school I decided to join band and then the choir and then I was told in High School that I had a serious untapped talent and that I should take lessons and pursue it.  I was taken back at first.  "ME?? Really good at something?  You're just setting me up for humiliation aren't you?" But...my choir teacher was insistent and I eventually convinced my dad to let me take voice lessons.  I started private vocal lessons and within a couple months I was singing solos at every concert.  I completely fell in love with singing and went on to earn my B.A. in Vocal Music from Fort Lewis College in Durango, CO.

I diverged a bit from the musical path for a few years in pursuit of a Pastry Chef career because I figured that it would be a better suited career to actually earn a living but due to a permanent back injury that has made it pretty much impossible for me to work full time in a bakery and general unhappiness of not having music in my life, I have now decided that it's time to go back to my first love; Singing!  I've felt in the bottom of my soul for a long time that I want to do this professionally.  No...it is really more of a NEED.  But for the longest time I thought it wasn't the best move because its so competitive and hard to make a decent living.  But I've started to wonder if the back injury was the Universe's way of telling me that I was on the wrong path.  That regardless of what the pay was, this is what I was "meant" to do!

So...last year I decided it was time.  I sought out a choir and recently started up vocal lessons again with an AMAZING teacher.  (I will elaborate on a later post.)  And I can tell you, I could only be happier with my choice if I could find some paying gigs that would help pay the bills.  BUT... that will happen eventually and in the mean time I am going to start a music studio of my own to teach voice, beginning piano and clarinet.  I have been in the Chorus for two different Opera productions and have started to open doors and networking for more in the future.  With hard work and persistence, I will eventually be able to start auditioning for lead roles.  I have a possible audition for a paid choir position and I hope that goes through.  And even if I don't get the gig, I can say that I've tried and move on to other opportunities.  I am getting braver with auditions and I am really excited to see what other wonderful things my future holds for me :)