Every audition is a job interview. It's a chance to get one step further in your career, to get another contract, another paycheck, and another business relationship.

It's a chance to practice your skills and to prove to yourself what you can do.

It's also another opportunity for rejection. And it can sting. But it doesn't have to sting as badly as it might--here are 3 rules of thumb to keep in mind to prepare yourself well and, if need be, to take the sting out of the rejection.

1. You can…

The critical voice in your head probably knows a lot of rules.

Yucky rules.

Rules that, when broken, will probably reveal some light.

Break them. Break them good!

Rule #1:  You have to be doing "big stuff" all the time.

Rule #1 broken:  No, you don't. You need to be doing the real stuff--engaging with people, doing the best you can do on any given day. That's it.

We don't *always* need to be doing the big concerts, having the "big career," which by the way, doesn't exist in the same form i…

It's time...to take a break.

2014 has been quite a journey.

This year I've:

• finished and announced this new website
• traveled to Patagonia (Chile), Oregon, Milwaukee, and Virginia, MN (yeah, you know it's awesome up there)
• started my own voice studio
• started teaching in the after-school programs at one high school and soon will teach in another
• sang my first World Premiere
• sang "Les Nuits d'été" for the first time
• rehearsed "Jesu, meine Freude" with my friends' infant cooing on my lap (that's a…

Wouldn't it be awesome to stand up in front of thousands of people in a packed hall and give an amazing speech saying thank you to everyone who has affected your life and career? And for it to be televised? And then jet off to your next destination, ready to take the stage, film the scene, give the next lecture.

That would be SO COOL.

Just like it would be SO COOL to win a big award like a Grammy. And then people start calling YOU.

That would be so awesome.

And it most surely is so awesome t…

November 22 & 23, 2014

Mesabi Symphony Orchestra

Sergey Bogza, conductor

November 22nd, 7:00 p.m.

Chisholm High School Auditorium

301 4th Street SW

Chrisholm, MN 55719

November 23rd, 2:30 p.m.

Goodman Auditorium at Virginia High School

411 5th St. S

Virginia, MN 55792

Sunday, November 16th, 2014 at 3 p.m.

Ode for St. Cecilia's Day - Henry Purcell

Magnificat - Franz Schubert

Christmas Cantata - Daniel Pinkham

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Kristie Tigges, soprano

Nicole Warner, alto

Richard Joseph, tenor

Mike Schmidt, bass

Patricia C. Connors, director

Choral Society of St. Catherine

Admission $10/$5

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The O'Shaughnessy Auditorium at the University of St. Catherine

2004 Randolph Ave

St Paul, MN 55105

To accomplish this major feat, you need to know a few things. Because learning this shouldn’t take longer than the actual application, here it is short, sweet, and to the point.

1.    Decide if it’s really worth it.
Sit down, and for five minutes think about what this application could lead to—what are the possibilities? If it’s worth a lot later, then it’s definitely worth a few hours of intense work right now. If you don’t care very much, then don’t do it. You’ll only be annoyed with yourself l…

October 19, 2014 at 3:00 p.m.

Tracey Engleman, soprano

Nicole Warner, mezzo-soprano

Luke Grooms, tenor

Jeffrey Ray, bass

Bel Canto Chorus

Richard Hynson, conductor

Order your tickets here.

Watermark at Shully's

146 Green Bay Rd

Thiensville, WI 53092

Gioacchino Rossini (pictured above) wrote the Petite Messe Solennelle (Small solemn mass) in 1863 as a salon piece for two pianos and harmonium, calling for only 12 singers; the soloists should sing the chorus parts and the solos.…

Kaksi vanhaa suomalaista virttä - Two Old Finnish Hymns

1. Me uskom' yhden Jumalan pääll' - We Believe in One God

2. Herra siunaa meit' ja auta - Lord, Bless Us and Help Us

for mezzo-soprano and organ, composed by Olli Kortekangas

I'll also be singing "Simple Song" from Bernstein's Mass during this service.

Sunday, August 3, 2014 at 10:00 a.m.

with Mark Sedio, organ

Central Lutheran Church

333 S 12th St.

Minneapolis, MN  55404

More information to this World Premiere, compo…

1. Music isn't for kids--it's full of sax and violins.

2. If I told you I loved you, would you love me Bach?

3.

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4. My name is Franz, and you are on my Liszt.

5. If it ain't Baroque, don't fix it.

6. I think your G-String is a bit tight.

7.

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