In which I audition for the opera and prepare to teach a class
Some of you know (and others are finding out now) that this past Sunday I auditioned for Opera San José's 2010-11 chorus. Woohoo! Go, me! I felt good about my audition: very pleased with my performance of Handel's "Verdi prati" from Alcina and quite satisfied with my performance of Debussy's "Fantoches" from Fêtes Galantes I (very pleased musically, but would have done some of the physical differently). I also had a "small world" moment while I was waiting for my appointment: a young woman who looked vaguely familiar came in for her appointment, which was right after mine. At first, I just wrote it off as some people having "those" faces, but then she said I looked really familiar as well. Eventually we figured out why: we were in a play together at CTC's advanced conservatory about twelve years ago, when we were both in early high school.
Next weekend is A&S, and holy snickerdoodles, Batman, I'm teaching! Two classes, though one is a co-teach (basically an English Country Dance 101) with Francisco. The other one, though, which I'm teaching solo, is on period poetry forms. Following Leah's advice, I'm likely going to start with some of the more well-known forms and then introduce some lesser-known ones. I'll be covering a wide range of time periods and several different cultures rather than focusing on, say, 14th-15th century French and Occitan/Provençal. I am also probably going to put more forms in the packet than we'll have time to cover in-depth, so I can tailor the class itself to the interests of my students. Forms that may be making an appearance, in no particular order: rondeau (French, 15th c), ghazal (Persian, at least 8th c), Sapphic verse (Greek, ~7th c BCE), Old English verse á la Beowulf (Anglo-Saxon, ~7th-9th c), sestina (Provençal, 12th c), terza rima (Italian, 13th c), sonnet: "Petrarchan" (Italian, 13th c) and/or "Shakespearean" (English, 16th c).
Next weekend is A&S, and holy snickerdoodles, Batman, I'm teaching! Two classes, though one is a co-teach (basically an English Country Dance 101) with Francisco. The other one, though, which I'm teaching solo, is on period poetry forms. Following Leah's advice, I'm likely going to start with some of the more well-known forms and then introduce some lesser-known ones. I'll be covering a wide range of time periods and several different cultures rather than focusing on, say, 14th-15th century French and Occitan/Provençal. I am also probably going to put more forms in the packet than we'll have time to cover in-depth, so I can tailor the class itself to the interests of my students. Forms that may be making an appearance, in no particular order: rondeau (French, 15th c), ghazal (Persian, at least 8th c), Sapphic verse (Greek, ~7th c BCE), Old English verse á la Beowulf (Anglo-Saxon, ~7th-9th c), sestina (Provençal, 12th c), terza rima (Italian, 13th c), sonnet: "Petrarchan" (Italian, 13th c) and/or "Shakespearean" (English, 16th c).