Well ... so this isn't the very first time ever I've sung all by myself before an audience. I have sung at recitals where it was just me, all by myself.
And I've sung in duets and quartets, sometimes having a line or a measure all to myself. So tonight was not really a "first time ever in my entire life" kind of experience.
But it was the first time I had a solo piece in a major concert performance with a chorus: the piece was Carl Orff's "Carmina Burana," and I sang "In Trutina." This is considered a soprano solo, and I'm certainly no soprano -- but our Maestro, Urs Leonhardt Steiner, and I are in agreement that it's an ideal vocal vehicle for an Alto, and as a Mezzo Soprano, it is really right up my alley.
Now, let me say up front that the performance was in a bar in San Francisco's North Beach -- but a solo is a solo, and a gig is a gig, and I'm here to say that I nailed it! "In Trutina" is tricky, there are a couple of long sustains (3 measures, thank you!), and I didn't run out of breath. The opening measure is also syncopated, which also makes it tricky, and I didn't do a very good job in rehearsal last week. But I worked on it with my voice teacher, and practiced every day, and in the end, I believe I did a good job.
I get to repeat this experience in 12 days at Calvary Presbyterian Church in San Francisco. I'll be continuing to work hard at this until then.
Wish me luck!
