(I thought you might all be interested in
reading this next detailed letter from Amber.
August
2007
Hello All!
So here is my second update! I hope this finds you all well-healthy and happy.
It really has been a great summer here in Chicago! The weather was an adjustment-really humid and sticky. I kind of gave up on my hair-it refuses to do anything in this climate! After chucking my hairbrush across the room one morning in a fit of frustration, I decided that ponytails are not only easy, but stylish as well!
June was my birthday month and vacation month as well. I started out by flying to Phoenix to celebrate my 27th birthday with Sheila and friends in Phoenix. It truly was the best birthday weekend! It was SO good to see Sheila again and get some time to work with her and my old piano coach, Mark Fearey. The Ensemble was given a two-week vacation so we all parted ways and I flew back to California to celebrate my mom's 50th BD and see family and friends. It was good to see everyone and spend time at home with my folks.
July was the month that hosted the summer opera performance-Il Barbiere di Siviglia. I sang the role of Berta, the housemaid. It was quite fun! I learned a lot about role preparation and the Italian language. We are so blessed to have incredible coaches and resources available to us. Several times during recit rehearsals, Alessandra (our Italian teacher) along with another native speaker would come in and listen and offer suggestions and correct mistakes. By the end, they were both pleased with all the progress we had made and the overall handle of the language. We had Kevin Goodall come in and stage it-he also did a three-week acting course so we could be really familiar with our characters and their intentions. Kevin was just so much fun to work with-he has a great sense of humor and really innovative ideas. He is not affiliated with the opera world-so his ideas were fresh and different and we all got along really well. Sheila was able to come out and see the show-and stay for the whole weekend so I could show her Chicago. We had a blast! I took her to Magnificent Mile and Navy Pier and Wrigley Field and many other places-we also ate our way throughout the city. It was perfect!
August has been a very good month-Kathy, one of my best friends from college came and visited and we had SO much fun! I don't think we slept! It was so good to see her…I took her to the Opera House and showed her around and she got to sit in on my coachings and go to Italian class with me. It was good for me to see my job through her eyes-it renewed my gratefulness and my awe of how blessed I am to get to do this for a living. We flew back to Phoenix together and I did a gig downtown for Showcase Concerts. It was a lot of fun-somewhat nerve-racking to sing in your own backyard again for the first time since I moved, but everyone was so gracious and kind. I will be heading back to Phoenix in February to sing a gig in Sun City and I'm really looking forward to it!
I have learned a great deal this summer-I probably should keep a journal! I'm always amazed and sometimes frustrated at how much opera requires of the singer. Attention to detail is so vitally important and I don't think we acknowledge that enough as young singers. We barrel into a role or an aria and sacrifice a lot of detail that is so needed to make the role or piece successful! For the first three months, I felt dreadfully behind-behind on languages, style and overall finesse. My coaches are so amazing though and I soon got into a groove-an ebb and flow if you will-of what I need to pay attention to and how to manage the overwhelming feelings at times of this career. I don't think I'll ever shake the obsessive feeling of reading books and research, but I do feel now that I can manage this singing endeavor. For a while I just felt lost-so much to work on and so much to listen to and read. My coaches have done an incredible job teaching me what to focus on and what's important to obsess over. Sheila has also been instrumental in talking me off my ledge when I want to call it quits!
Overall-it has just been an amazing experience thus far. I love my Italian class and this week we start German. We also start choreography/movement classes soon and more acting courses. We get saturated everyday with information-Roger Pines who is our Dramaturg has started to seminars with us twice a week. In these seminars we focus on the specifics required by each composer. We listen to a lot of old singers and this has been extremely educational for me. I'm learning everyday to appreciate my predecessors and what they brought to opera.
I love my church, Willow Creek. I appreciate all your prayers-I have met and made some great friends and I love my small group that meets every Sunday night. God has really been doing a great work in my life and teaching me a lot about true mercy and grace. My small group leader, Hannah has really challenged me to think out of the box and I am experiencing community in a whole new way. It is really cool to see God moving and shaking things up for me-I figure if I'm uncomfortable, I'm doing something right!!! I do not want to get complacent and become a performer that acknowledges Christ when it is convenient. Pray for me regarding that-pray that I will continue to pursue my colleagues with genuine love.
This about sums it up for now-I love you all dearly and please continue to stay in touch!
Amber Wagner
"Hello All!!
So I have
been in Chicago two months now and was thinking that I need to send out
a kind of "newsletter" so you all can be kept abreast on my happenings
in the Windy City.
I moved here back in April, right after the Met-and I have to say I didn't plan it very well. Word to the wise-don't let anyone try and convince you that you can put together an entire apartment FROM SCRATCH in less than four days. It can't be done! I did not take any furniture with me to Chicago as I didn't own any-I lived in campus housing all through my undergrad and the apartments were furnished. So, basically I brought my books, scores of music I had stolen from my teacher (thanks Sheila!) and some picture frames and clothes.
My mom came with me to help me shop and get settled and thank goodness she did-she is always so calm and optimistic...tell her its raining and she will deny it! She is that type of lady. So together we shopped for four days and tried to get this place livable-she had to get back to California for work and I said good-bye to her the night before I started my job at Lyric. I stood at my window and watched her drive off and I balled my eyes out. I called Sheila and told her that I think she made a mistake sending me here and I better come home! Moves are hard-and I had been running around like crazy-coming home from the Met, saying goodbye to my life in Phoenix and then shopping like it was Y2K for four days in Chicago! I knew I wanted this, but I was in for a big adjustment period on so many levels. All in all, I got moved in and settled, but I would have given myself more time to get really settled here before jumping into this brand new career.
So-April 16th was my first day of work at Lyric. I was like a little kid. I had gone out and bought a new outfit and packed my lunch and my little duffel bag with music and all the accessories a good music student takes with them: pencils, a recorder, highlighters, Werthers to suck on, cough drops and lots of water. I got down to the opera house-(which still gives me goose bumps when I see it) and we started orientation. I don't remember a whole lot from that day-we were given a slew of information and I think I must have bruised my arm from how many times I pinched myself that day checking to make sure I was really here and really living out this dream. (I sure do appreciate all of you who called me that morning to wish me well and let me know they were praying for me and thinking of me. Thank you very much!)
We had photo badges made-way cool...makes me feel important and then we went right into coachings. The coaches here are AMAZING!!!! I was really worried about those first few coachings, but these men are so great. Patient, kind, and ridiculously smart! I learned really quick to just listen and take mental notes because the coaches have so much information that is incredibly invaluable in this profession. I also found that they respected me as an artist and valued my opinion and made me feel that welcome and cared for and safe-if that makes sense. I knew that I could make mistakes and not be made to feel stupid. I'm so blessed to have these "resources" so readily available to me and they truly enjoy working with young artists and being a part of the journey of watching us grow into mature performers.
This is really a great city-I of course had my own little escapades with the public transportation here. I definitely spent like $600 bucks the first three weeks on cab fare (thank you Met Opera!) but finally got the hang of it all. The first day I finally took the bus, I got lost walking from the bus stop to the opera house and had to take a cab for three blocks! It was a $.75 cent fare-that must be a record! I took notes while he was driving so I would know how to walk there the next day and thankfully all my colleagues are so sweet and helped me get on the right bus and get off at the right stop!
I think I have found a great church-it's the Chicago location of Willow Creek. It started back in November and meets at the Auditorium Theater downtown. The preaching is really Bible solid and usually is via satellite from the main campus, but sometimes the Chicago campus pastor preaches too. I think the response is great-they have like anywhere from 450-600 people every Sunday...you can tell the city needed this location. It has been difficult for me to be going to church alone, but this is so good on one hand because God has been using this time and all these experiences to really stretch me and challenge me in my faith.
One thing that is been a huge challenge is maintaining my authenticity as a Christian and remaining firm on what I believe and not "selling out" in any way. I know that God called me here to Chicago and gave me this incredible job, so I know that He has well equipped me with everything I need. I would ask that you all keep me in your prayers and pray that I would remember that there is more to me and more to life than singing and that I would be looking for opportunities to share the good news of Christ.
Well-I think
that is a pretty good overview of all that has been going on...summary:
I love it here! I love my job and can't believe I get to do this for a
living! WOW!!!
To all of you-I hope you are well and healthy. I think of you all often and please stay in touch. I mean this when I say I am mere reflection of all of your investments and would not be here today if not for all of the love and care and concern you have all so graciously given me. I am a blessed woman!
Love to you
all-
Amber Wagner