Rose F. - A Passion for Singing

When I first heard that I was to have the opportunity to design my own senior project, there was only one thought in my mind: singing. My project has two parts: putting together my audition CDs for college and producing my own recital. I needed to create recordings because I want to major in music and so my college admissions process includes a series of auditions, some in person and some via CD. I accomplished the recording during the first trimester of this year and then decided upon a recital as the second half of my project. I've never had my own recital before, and it felt like a good rite of passage as I prepare to graduate from high school and move on to college. Having four eighty-minute periods during my class schedule each week for twenty-four weeks to devote to singing is a dream come true. Through this process I wanted to find out if I could really be happy making such a commitment to singing every day. I am very aware of the dangers and demands of pursuing an artistic career path. I can only aim for a singing career if I am one-hundred percent sure that I want it more than anything else; and now I am.

The most exciting and challenging aspect of my senior project has definitely been putting together my recital. The process has involved everything from finding and renting the space to printing the programs (and obviously, preparing the repertoire) and it was all my responsibility. I love performing, but the thought of a room full of people sitting in front of me for forty-five minutes made me a little nervous. That's part of the life of a singer, though. All in all, it was a great experience. I had a slight setback when I contracted mononucleosis during winter break. The virus infected my left cochlea, and there were a few panicked days when the doctors thought I might suffer from permanent hearing loss and constant ringing in my ears. While to many people this might not make much of a difference, to a singer it would be disastrous. Fortunately, a five-day course of Prednisone later, the ear was fine and (knock on wood) continues to be so. The constant exhaustion and sore throat set my progress back a bit, and I had to move my recital to later in February. All's well that ends well, however, and with the help and support of innumerable people, I pulled it off. I am happy to feel that I have accomplished what I set out to achieve and that I have made good use of my senior project.

Listen to Rose sing Le Violette (MP3 file) by Alessandro Scarlatti from his opera Pierro e Demetrio.

Note: Rose has performed with Lamplighters Music Theater since 2005 appearing in The Pirates of Penzance, The Merry Widow, Carousel, and other musicals. She made her debut with the San Francisco Opera in fall 2008 creating the role of Fia in the world premiere production of The Bonesetter's Daughter. She is currently playing the role of Orestes in the Pocket Opera production of La Belle Helene to be performed on Sunday, March 15th at the Napa Valley Opera House.

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