Castle Concert

Last night we had our Castle Concert. It was definitely not what I was expecting, but it was soooo amazing that I didn't care.
It turns out it was NOT the castle I thought it was. It was actually a private residence. But it was still a castle (I have Facebook photos to prove it!) owned by a friend of Profs. Added and Lewis who runs the hair side of Balmain (http://www.balmain.com/). Very very nice man, and his wife, and it looked like a whole mess of staff that work and live there. We arrived at the castle and were immediately given a really nice dinner - cold soup, a bunch of different salads, and then either hamburger patties (which were really too good for the bun anyway) or ribs. I got to enjoy a nice dinner and listen to awesome stories from Eric Halfvarson (this one! http://erichalfvarson.com/), who is teaching at the program.
We weren't actually singing in the castle, as it's an actual home and I don't think there was any room for us in there. We were singing in the upstairs area of a renovated stable, which sounds not as cool, but was really really nice. We had a little stage area, and there were seats for about 50 people, and there were medieval-style curtains and furnishings and it was super cute. Then it came showtime.
The acoustics were pretty dry, but not the worst place I've sung in. I sang "Mi chiamano Mimi" and I think it was one of the best I've done so far. I keep finding new motivations in this song to make it better. They made video recordings of our performances but I don't know if they'll be available to us later. I hope so, because I felt like I rocked it. Eric Halfvarson spoke a few words to me afterwards which have made me more motivated to continue with what I'm doing. Once in a while I wonder if I'm pursuing the right profession, and being in an intensive program like this is overwhelming enough to raise more doubts, but it's concerts and recitals like this that let me know I'm where I should be.
Everyone looked and sounded great! It was such a great experience to sing in such a wonderful yet intimate place. It made me think of back in the Romantic period when people would have parlor concerts and everyone would perform, and it also made me wonder why people don't do that more these days! I feel like so often we have to have a REASON for a recital, like a degree requirement or fundraiser or something else. We always seem like we're so busy to actually sit back and enjoy a recital given by our friends and peers, and to make a nice evening out of it. When I get rich and famous, that's what I want to do - set up little concerts for my friends and serve dinner and drinks and make things fun.

Here's a couple of photos for your viewing pleasure:

The castle itself.















Our stage.















Dinner, sitting next to Eric Halfvarson!















Outside on the balcony before singing.



















Awesome day!