Nearing the end...Nashville Day Five

Having gotten a little more sleep last night than I have the last couple of days, I had more stamina today. Following a presentation entitled, “In Search of Perfect Phonation,” I wandered over to the CD table and bought the 2 CD set of Ms. Talamantes’ recital from last night. Then, I met up with my friend AMJ from the Summer Vocology Institute (2005). He gave me a great big hug that said to me, “I’m thrilled to see you again.” We had a great chat – you wouldn’t know we hadn’t see each other for three years. Kind of like IB, the SVI is a challenging, transforming experience that really draws together those who go through it together. He told me that JJ (also from our SVI class) was upstairs scoping people for Dr. Sataloff’s voice study, so I wandered up there and said hello to her.

Then, I gave in to temptation and bought myself another one of those heavenly fruit tarts at the Conservatory Café. It’s my third one this week. They’re quite expensive, but I consider them a special occasion.

Upon running into my chapter president and finding out that I wasn’t missing much by not being in the session on what it takes to “make it” in the commercial music industry, I proceeded to the swimming pool (finally!) to relax!

Next, a publisher’s showcase where we received a free song collection and enjoyed a short recital, followed by the long-awaited presentation by Dr. Robert Sataloff. As his work is a vocology staple, I stuck around and had my picture taken with him and thanked him for his contributions to the field. He struck me as a very friendly, personable person who would probably be great to work with.

Finally, I sat through part of a presentation on helping students with performance anxiety. Unfortunately, it was extremely cold in the room and, after four days of conference sessions, my ability to focus was next to none, so I ducked out halfway through and came back to the room to relax for awhile before tonight's banquet.

To finish off the list of big names for this week, tonight's entertainment will be provided by the singing voice of Eliza Doolittle (My Fair Lady), Marni Nixon. (No, Audrey Hepburn did not do her own singing in that film.) This being the 50th National NATS Conference, they have really gone all out this year. It's been quite the experience. Meeting so many legends in just a few days really brings things into perspective - it makes the world smaller when the legends become real.