The last few years I have been lucky enough to have an extremely busy concert season, but well spaced so I had time to think, percolate, interpret….Ahhh….time to think… That was not so much the case to begin this season and I had to call upon my skills as an Opera Mom in the Art of Flexibility. The Art of Flexibility truly means that you’ve prepared for anything, and then have the confidence to successfully navigate any perceived obstacles.

Last year I commited to an orchestral concert singing Mozart’s motet, EXSULTATE JUBILATE that was scheduled for November. I then added two concerts with Sacramento Opera on Oct. 4th and 7th as well as a fundraiser for the educational program at CA Music Circus that following Monday Oct. 8th. I thought that two big operatic concerts followed by a night of Musical Theater tunes would work just fine…until…the call came. The EXSULTATE JUBILATE was changed to the Friday night within that same weekend. It was time to utilize the skills learned in the 12 years of being a performing parent to be flexible, plan ahead, and practice everything in the order given for muscle memory to take over.

Planning is really the key to having a tight schedule with many different jobs and wearing many different hats in life. You truly have to prepare as far in advance as possible, and treat these situations as if you were preparing a Tour de Force operatic role. Pacing, pacing, pacing. Pacing vocally, mentally and personally. Looking at your sleeping, eating, exercising and keeping as much of a routine as possible is important. With two kids, it doesn’t ever work perfectly, but the eating well and exercising are always in place. With my extreme preparation of the rep. ahead of time, singing in these completely different styles, different venues and EVEN with a microphone all worked out fantastically! My technique was always in place, the style changes were solid and I was able to connect with each audience and truly tell the stories!