When in Rome...

I leave for Rome a week from tomorrow. I am looking forward to it, if only because I will have no choice but to let go of everything that's going on at home.

This week will be very crazy as I try to take a test and turn in assignments early, and do a school observation (tomorrow morning). And packing. And rehearsing, and dress rehearsing for Saturday's studio recital and Sunday's choir concert. So, if you're one of those wonderful people who's emailed me and hasn't been hearing back, this is why.

I really am looking forward to the trip, though. I like Rome (this will be my third trip there in less than 5 yrs), I like singing, and I like the people I'm going with, which is my choir. We're singing for the new pope at next Wednesday's audience. We will also sing concerts in the Sistine Chapel and St. Ignatius for which I am a soloist. We sang the same concert downtown this afternoon at a lovely old stone church with really nice acoustics, and the solo quartet stuff was finally something to be proud of. The quartet music is extremely difficult to sing and even more difficult to sing in tune, but today it was the best it has ever been. This gives me some much needed confidence going into the Roman concerts. We will sing this concert again next Sunday afternoon, too, but that church has carpet, so the acoustics are lousy, and that makes a big difference.

The downside to these trips is leaving Eric at home. I'm already suffering separation anxiety, and he's just down the hall! This just reiterates that the life of a traveling full-time performer is not for me. I love performing, but I prefer being at home with Eric. Fortunately, I also like teaching. :-)