Home, concert and other stuff

Its always nice to be home and catch up with friends and family. Its always such a nice feeling to reconnect with old friends. Its a heart-warming surprise to know how much they care even though we see each other so rarely. It can be lonely in Manchester and coming home always refreshes me. But I was born with the travel bug and I can't stay in one place for too long but touching base at home is important to me. Was nice to see my gran in kl altho she is really finding it difficult to walk around since the fall. Looking forward to Christmas when the whole family including sis descends here. It will be a full full house then and I think 5 people sharing one bathroom after a year of having their own will be interesting.

The concert at home was a learning experience for me. I'd been too used to being cossetted by my teacher and coaches for recitals and concerts and having to prepare something on my own with little time was really revealing in the level of preparation I need to bring to my work. Singing something into the voice and getting off copy is part of the process. I am not one of those singers that can just wing it. At least not yet. I think I did a fair job but was vocally hampered by insecurity with the music and so was not able to let the voice move freely. I understand now what Barbara keeps saying about a new level of singing that propels you from a good performance into something special. Aim for this year and of course the opera and the end of the year concert. The dreaded DVD will be painful but educational. Was somewhat disappointed in myself also A was not very encouraging also.We have been having some issues as well. Not really sure where I stand with her. so complicated.

Quite a heavy workload for the rest of year so need to plug in and get back into some hard work. But thats the way I like it:) Preperation, perperation, perperation and lots of heart. thats the key to success.