Saturday
To begin the busy week ahead, I fly to Bloomington, Indiana, to spend a couple of days in our new home. My husband recently joined the voice faculty as Associate Professor at Indiana University, and we’ve been settling in. It’s August now and my last week off was in February before starting a production of Tannhäuser at Houston Grand Opera, so the process of selling our home in Texas and finding a new one has all happened while I’ve been back and forth between jobs.
Sunday
One day of real summer. After unpacking boxes and cleaning up, I take my daughters to the community pool, which feels refreshingly small-town and then I get ready for a flight this evening. Luckily, I catch a direct flight from Indianapolis to Los Angeles and then have a couple of hours’ drive back to Santa Barbara just in time for a packed day at Music Academy of the West tomorrow.
I’m glad I’ve already started to pack up my things in Santa Barbara. Living anywhere for nearly two months always makes transitions harder.
Monday
After a talk on marketing and public relations as part of my “Sasha sesh” series at Music Academy, I have the pleasure of teaching a masterclass with the vocal programme, focusing on contemporary music. It happens to be a “mezzo marathon” with four wonderful mezzo-sopranos. The rest of the afternoon is made up of exit interviews with my partner in crime and fellow Co-Director, pianist John Churchwell.
It’s a small example, but I have a sense the exit interviews are one of the things that set us apart. In our third year running the programme, musicians have commented on feeling so welcomed, happy and seen. John and I spend a lot of time curating the summer to each individual artist’s wants and needs.
After a dinner with a supporter of the academy, John and I head to the final dress rehearsal of our double-bill recital Love and Laughter, pairing Bolcom’s Lucrezia, which I premiered with New York Festival of Song almost twenty years ago, alongside Rorem’s Four Dialogues. Once again, the singers and pianists take my breath away. Even though it’s been a long day, it’s my last night in California and I’m grateful to have a drink by the fire with a few of my colleagues.
Tuesday
After a few more exit interviews, my bags are packed and I head to the airport on my way to Jackson Hole, Wyoming,
for a premiere by Australian composer Alex Turley.
Although it’s one of Alex’s first vocal pieces, it is incredible and easily one of the best premieres I’ve ever sung. It is filled with sumptuous orchestration, lyrical vocal writing and moving poetry by five different Australian poets, all from Alex’s hometown of Perth. Also, it is one of the longest premieres I’ve done with an orchestra, clocking in close to thirty minutes.
A typical day in my glamorous life – my second flight is several hours delayed! I make it in before midnight, just in time to see the exquisite silhouette of the Teton mountains against the night sky.
Wednesday
Today begins with an early morning rehearsal with the orchestra and the wonderful Donald Runnicles. Something truly magical is happening at the Grand Teton Music Festival. Players often return summer after summer for decades and I can see why. It’s much more than the gorgeous surroundings – the players are truly the feature of the festival and Maestro Runnicles has a way of thanking them and acknowledging them that is truly extraordinary.
As someone once said to him, “the orchestra sounds like it feels.” It reminds me of what I hope John and I are doing at Music Academy, making our artists feel seen. After the rehearsal, I head to an interview with the festival’s marketing team, which includes recording a video on the making of a new work. The composer Alex Turley, Donald Runnicles and I sit and talk about the rehearsal while the camera is rolling and then each offer individual interviews.
Thursday
It wouldn’t be a complete trip to Jackson without a hike, so, after the rehearsal I head up the mountain, only falling a few times – I need to remember to stay on the trail! Bike paths are meant for bikes! I’m covered in dirt, but my heart is full.
Friday
I have an old school friend from my teens who is coming to stay the night with her daughter. They arrive a bit later in the afternoon, so I head to the final dress rehearsal in the morning with an invited audience and then prepare for the performance that evening. As much as I’d like to get back on a mountain, given the length of the premiere, and the altitude, I decide to lay low in the afternoon to save my energy. This is one of the parts of being a classical singer that I sometimes bemoan but try to honour. During Music Academy I barely have a free hour, but now that I do, I catch up on my emails.
Finally, it’s opening night and the official world premiere of Alex Turley’s the ocean’s dream of itself. As if it weren’t already very exciting, Harrison Ford is in the audience. I get to meet him afterwards and he couldn’t be more friendly. I tell him: “With you in the audience, I was thinking about my acting even more.” Mr Ford responds, “Oh, you weren’t acting. You were living the piece. And we were living it along with you.”
