Mama Andrews

I learned earlier this week that the beautiful Julie Andrews would be at Chatauqua. When I heard of this news, the first thing I did was call home. I have been wanting to see Mama Andrews in person for years... Ever since I could sing "Do, Re, Mi." This morning I learned that she was here yesterday. I missed seeing Mama Andrews. The dream lives on. I want to see Julie Andrews! Busy day ahead... Coaching, recital, and rehearsal for D'Elisir d'amore.

Week of firsts

Hello, everyone! First, let me apologize for a few things. 1. I might not get to update every day. The Internet is... A diva. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. I have learned that if I want to watch a movie or Skype with some fabulous people then I have to do so during the day. With that being said, I have learned that I need to post in the afternoon. 2. Finding Any type-os or missing punctuation? Sorry! I am typing very fast with one, maybe two, fingers on my iPad. I will do my best to find all errors before I post. :) 3. My final apology... Formatting, I can't seem to create paragraphs within the actual blog. When I write my blog in notepad it has paragraphs! Somehow they get list in translation? Who knows!  Anyways, I never know my schedule until the night before the coming day. Being a girl that practically lives for schedules and to-do lists I thought I would o insane by this method, but I have come to love it. I have nothing else going on... So schedule me, Chautauqua! AND... Here we go. The last few days in a blog.  Wednesday  was a very exciting day. The Chautauqua voice program put on their first recital, the sing-in. At the beginning of the seven weeks all of the voice students sing an aria or art song for the faculty, public, and one another. Fortunately, I was in the first set of singers because I was nervous. I couldn't hear the aria before mine because of my own heart beat. The concert was about three hours long and it was amazing. I heard three hours of crazy talent and, for the first time, was reassured about my spot in the program. This was a week of firsts. On Wednesday I had my first master class, voice lesson, and coaching. MASTER CLASS: The first master class was led by Marlena Malas. Since it was the first one she talked about the expectations and life style of a singer. She told us to be patient and to never compare voices. We didn't have much time to listen to singers, but we did have one student sing. What I took away from Marlena's class was that singing is about sensation, feeling, intuition, and trust. My instrument is inside and cannot be seen by any instructor. It is my job to understand my voice and treat it with care. I should never feel anything in my throat. I must know my body.  VOICE LESSON: My first voice lesson was AMAZING. Again, my voice teacher is Maria Fortuna-Dean. Soprano Maria Fortuna Dean has gained worldwide acclaim from audiences and critics alike, in repertoire ranging from the lyric soprano to the dramatic coloratura roles. Maria Fortuna Dean was born in Niagara Falls, NY. She received her Bachelor of Music degree from the Eastman School of Music and her Master of Music degree from the Curtis Institute of Music; she is an alumna of the Merola Opera Program of the San Francisco Opera, where she was also an Adler Fellow. In 1999-2000 she was Visiting Professor of Voice at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh and Visiting Lecturer in Opera Workshop at Brock University in St. Catharines, Ontario. In 2000-2002 she was Visiting Lecturer in Voice at SUNY Fredonia. Upcoming engagements include the soprano soloist in Beethoven's "Symphony No. 9," an evening of Mozart chamber music with Jeffrey Kahane of the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra and numerous recitals throughout Southern California. For now, I will be setting aside and Wagner or Weber that I have sung or will sing in the future. Maria was excited about the color my voice has and started developing some chest-voice exercises and some, dare I say it, coloratura warm-ups. Just to be clear... I am not, and never will be, a coloratura. This first lesson consisted of me singing several warm-ups. My new teacher needed to listen for strengths and weaknesses.  COACHING: My first coaching was with Benedicte Jourdois. I will be singing in the July 4th concert here at Chautauqua and she is my accompanist. She helped me feel a real sense of line in my music. I will meet with her a few more times before the concert. Thursday, I had a coaching with Mikael Eliasen. Danish-born coach and accompanist Mikael Eliasen received his early training in Copenhagen, Montreal, and Vienna. He has collaborated with numerous singers in recital worldwide, including Robert Merrill, Tom Krause, John Shirley-Quirk, Elly Ameling, Edith Mathis, Florence Quivar, Mira Zakai, Sarah Walker, Joan Patenaude-Yarnell, and Curtis alumni Theodor Uppman, Michael Schade, and Rinat Shaham. In the United States, he works regularly at the Lyric Opera of Chicago, LA Opera, Houston Grand Opera, Pittsburgh Opera, Santa Fe Opera, and the Metropolitan Opera.Mr. Eliasen joined the faculty of the Curtis Institute of Music in 1986 and became the head of the department in 1988. I did audition for Mikael when I auditioned at Curtis this last spring. I sang for him yesterday.l. and he had a lot to say. He was very excited about the sounds coming from my voice and loved the top register. Now, for the stuff I need to work on. I tend to indulge in the lower register of my voice- I am twenty two and need to lighten this up! I have always counted on my volume to impress people, but now it's time to take my voice back. Reign it in, Ashcroft! He reiterated what Maria had said in my lesson... No more Wagner! I need Handel and Mozart. Music with coloratura aspects. I am not to sing anything heavy for awhile. I am to listen to Birgit Nilsson, Deborah Voight, Zinka Milanov, and any other dramatic soprano, but am NOT allowed to sing their roles. This is exciting! I do have to give up Renee Fleming. Mikael said that my voice is bigger than Renee's so I need to listen to others. Goodbye, Renee! More coming soon! Digest this big reading. Believe me... I am learning a lot and trying to soak it up. I don't want to forget anything. Happy singing! :)

And so it begins...

My morning began with music convocation. All of the musicians here for the festival gathered at Fletcher Hall at 10:00am. It was great to see all of the music students together in one spot. After all, we will be spending a lot of time together.  Anyways, convocation lasted an hour. We met the faculty and learned about all of the major events that will take place this summer. Everyone was so welcoming and enthusiastic about the program. The common theme was said throughout convocation. The head of the program talked about being here to achieve excellence. We are here to work hard and grow as people and musicians. Immediately after convocation we had our opening voice meeting where I was finally able to meet and greet all of the singers. It was so good to connect. Marlena gave us an objective for the summer. All singers must come up with a goal that they must work towards over the next seven weeks. I will be brainstorming tonight... Tomorrow is the sing-in. All of the singers must perform one short art song or aria. I me with my accompanist, Joel Harder, and ran through my piece. I will be singing "Zueignung" written by Richard Strauss. It felt good to sing. I was intimidated by all of the talent here at first, but after rehearsing I was reassured that this is where I need to be. The rest of my day was fairly laid back. I am still meeting tons of new people everyday, but it's nice to be in such a musical environment. Last thing, I will be studying with Maria Fortuna-Dean. This is very exciting.

Dear friends and family,

I have decided to blog about the next big adventure in my life... My seven weeks at the Chautauqua Summer Program in Chautauqua, NY. During my semester in Philadelphia I had the great pleasure, and honor, to have a few coachings with Don St. Pierre. He recommended auditioning for the program. So, I signed up for an audition and went to Chicago for a day to audition for Marlena Malas- she teaches at both Juilliard and Curtis. Mom and I took the train in to the city and she was a real trooper. To say I was nervous would be an understatement... I was petrified. I went in wearing my favorite audition dress and sang my guts out. It was the best audition I have ever had. Anyways, two months later (I thought I was going to die waiting) I found out that I was accepted into the program. :D The Chautauqua Institution Voice Department is a seven-week intensive educational program that seeks to offer the highest caliber of training for the young singer, 18 and older. Under the leadership of Marlena Kleinman Malas, a select group of singers study, coach and perform in an idyllic setting on the grounds of the Chautauqua Institution in western New York State. Voice lessons, role preparation, diction classes and vocal coachings are guided by a full-time staff of voice teachers, coaches and a resident stage director, along with numerous guest artists. At the start of the summer we will gather in McKnight Hall for the annual sing-in. Each singer presents one aria or song. Choose something you feel best showcases your voice. At the end of the summer, we will have the sing-out where students typically perform whatever they like. Pieces have included arias, songs, music theater, ensembles, comedy or sentimental favorites. We perform two operas each summer. The first opera will be in the open air 5000 seat Amphitheater with orchestra, staging, and minimal costumes and props. The second opera will be double cast and perform on two nights in Fletcher Hall with piano and full costume, props and lighting. Needless to say... This is a once in a lifetime opportunity! (Unless I make it in again next year) This summer I will sing and enjoy the beautiful grounds of Chautauqua. This blog will help the loved ones who have loved and supported me all these years keep in touch. I have had several requests for my address... So here it is: For letters: Sarah Ashcroft PO Box 992 Chautauqua, NY 14722 For packages: Sarah Ashcroft 77 Hedding Avenue Chautauqua, NY 14722 Please let me know if you have any questions or words of advice! Have a wonderful summer and check for updates often! With love, Sarah