Annalise is going to Italy!

I am so excited to announce that this summer I have been invited back to EPCASO  [The Ezio Pinza Council for American Singers of Opera] for a month-long opera intensive in Italy.  Tonight I will be giving a concert to help raise awareness of my trip and raise funds for my trip this year.  I am so excited to have the opportunity to share some of the music I learned last summer at EPCASO and to give you a preview of some of what I'll be working on this summer. At the end of my post you will find the information about my concert tonight or you can check out my facebook event here.

Going to Italy is an amazing opportunity.  But I couldn't have gotten to this place without the support from my audience or, dare I say, fans.  As a musician, I rely on you - to help me push myself to be a better musician, to always pursue new music and new styles and new opportunities.

I am asking for your help again.  I need to fund-raise $3000 to help cover my tuition and travel expenses for this summer.  Please watch this video to learn more about EPCASO and what you can do to help!  You can also visit my indigogo campaign to donate directly to my cause.

 

Thank you so much for supporting me and my endeavors.  Please feel free to share my indigogo campaign with anyone, anywhere who loves classical music and supporting young artists.  

Concert details:

Mezzo Soprano Annalise Shelmandine will perform a concert of opera arias at the Waterbury Congregational Church on Saturday May 30, 2015 at 7:00pm.

Ms. Shelmandine will be joined by sopranos Meghan McCormack of Johnson and Lillian Bailey-Broderick of Plainfield and accompanied by pianist Mary Jane Austin of Montpelier. The program will feature excepts of Vincenzo Bellini’s opera “I Capuleti e i Montecchi” and Mozart’s “The Marriage of Figaro".

Ms. Shelmandine, a recent graduate of Johnson State College, is one of the eleven emerging artists selected to study opera in Italy.  She will be studying at the renowned opera advanced training program EPASCO [The Ezio Pinza Council for American Singers of Opera].  The program is specifically designed for those singers whose abilities indicate a realistic possibility for a career in opera. Join these young singers for an evening of delightful operatic music.  

Suggested donation:  $20

New adventures

Being a singer in Vermont means having to work multiple jobs. I know most musicians from this beautiful green mountain state can relate  Thankfully (because it is Vermont) I LOVE every single one of my jobs, and boy, do they vary.  From travel organizer, to voice teacher, bookkeeper and now as a model.

While I was studying opera in Italy last summer, I met a fellow opera singer who has become one of my dearest friends.  We spent many a night walking around the tiny town of Oderzo, Italy eating gelato and discussing life goals, dreams and aspirations. After our program in Oderzo ended, I went to visit him in Hamburg, Germany where he is studying music.  One evening we walked along the lake in Hamburg and I told my friend that one of my dreams is to be to model.  Ever since I was a teenager I have tried to be an advocate for women to see their inner beauty and I felt that as a model I could show women that you don't have to be perfect to be confident and beautiful. My friend told me that if I wanted to do it, I could and should follow that dream.

As fate would have it, Catherine Scholze entered into my life.  Soon after I returned home from Europe I met Catherine, a fashion designer from Vermont who had started a clothing line for curvy women.  My sister, Marikje (also a confident, curvy lady like myself) modeled for Catherine's fall line and the pictures, the clothing, and my sister looked AMAZING!  At Catherine's launch party I got to experience her line of clothing and I fell madly in love.  Her pieces are art that feel like you're wearing something tailor made.  At the launch party we discussed our love of curvy women's fashion and I told Catherine I would love to model her pieces if she was ever in need of more models. We started working together last fall and I am so appreciative of the opportunities she has given me.
 
Check out this article she posted about our work together!

Back Home

After spending two and half months in Europe, I am back home and trying to find a direction for my life.  First I must apologize for not posting whole in Europe - I accidentally locked myself out of my blog...

I learned so much on this trip and saw SO MUCH.  As I traveled I met people from all walks of life from all over the world.  I learned so much about the great masters of music from the great masters of music but I also learned a lot about myself, about traveling, and other cultures.  I had a few scary moments but nothing that could outweigh the beauty I saw and the friends I made. 

As I said before, I am trying to find direction in my life.  For the first time in twenty years I am not in school.  After leaving high school I enrolled in community college and did that while I tried to find my path.  Now I have that all important piece of paper - my degree, stating to the world that I am a musician; I chose to study music and followed through.  It's a very bizarre feeling to not have homework and constant deadlines and projects on which you are graded.

As of today I have been home for two weeks and had wonderful times already with the friends and family I missed so much while away.  This week I started back with Bella Voce and our smaller ensemble Cantiamo.  I love those women and am so proud to be a member of their choir.  Their support has been invaluable - from helping my fundraising efforts to get to Europe, supporting me at my concerts and giving me the best birthday in Leipzig on tour with the group.  This week I also started with a new choir, Solaris, a mixed choir, also under the direction of Dawn Willis.  I am SO EXCITED to be singing in a mixed choir again.  I can already tell from our first rehearsal how fantastic the group is going to be.  I am so excited to be surrounded by such amazing musicians to help my education continue outside of the classroom.


Now, getting back to my trip.  Over the course of 64 days I saw eight countries and visited 23 cities.  Everyone has asked which place was my favorite and I feel its almost impossible to choose one place or even one country.

The countries and cities I visited (in order) were:

GERMANY
Frankfurt 25 June
Esienach 26-28 June
Arnstadt 27 June
Halle 28 June
Leipzig 28-30 June
Dresden 30 June

CZECH REPUBLIC
Terezin 30 June
Prague 30 June - 5 July

AUSTRIA
Vienna 5 July

ITALY
Oderzo 6-30 July
Venice 28-30 July

GERMANY
Dresden 31 July - 3 August
Meissen 2 August
Potsdam 3-6 August
Berlin 5 August
Hamburg 6-7 August

NETHERLANDS
Amsterdam 7-8 August

FRANCE
Paris 8-18 August 
Ville d'Avray 8-18 August
Versailles 11 August

SPAIN
Oviedo 18-25 August
Gijon 23 August
Rodiles 24 August

FRANCE
Perpignan 25 August

ITALY
Milan 26-27 August

There is so much to tell and I can't wait to share it all with you! Stay tuned for my adventures in Frankfurt and my tour with Bella Voce!

Summer Solstice Adventures

Wow! What a year it has been.  The summer solstice is in two days and in five days I leave for the remainder of the summer to enjoy the bounties of Europe.  I can't think of anyway better to start my summer!

As some of you may know, I was accepted to the Ezio Pinza Council for American Singers of Opera (EPCASO) which is a month-long opera and Italian intensive in Oderzo, Italy.  This program starts in July but before that amazing opportunity I have the absolutely amazing opportunity to tour with Bella Voce Women's Chorus for 10 days through Germany and the Czech Republic. On that tour we will be able to sing in amazing places like THIS and enjoy spectacular food and music related tours.

After the tour and my time at EPCASO I will be touring Europe in the way I've only ever dreamed of.  I will be staying in Italy WWOOFing (follow this link if you're confused what that is) and hopefully getting in touch with new friends throughout Europe, traveling via train.

With such an exciting summer planned I'm going to try and keep everyone updated here with adventures and pictures.  


P.S. I did have an Indigogo campaign to help riase the money for my tuition for EPCASO.  Unfortunately my campaign finished tonight after raising only 15% of my goal.  I did raise quite a bit from individual donations so, thank you to everyone who donated both online and in person.  However, if you still wish to donate please contact me via the comments and I will get you my mailing address.

P.P.S. For those of you who missed my recital or those who want to watch it again - here is the live recording. Enjoy!


Thank you so much for reading!!

'Tis the Season

Well friends, somehow it's the Holiday season  again, and as the holiday lights twinkle and the snow falls I wanted to let you all know of some great events where you can hear some wonderful music to get you into the spirit of the season and to warm your hearts and souls.

Bella Voce will be having it's annual holiday concerts THIS weekend, December 7th and 8th at First Baptist Church in Burlington.  This year Bella Voce will be joined not only by the AMAZING hand bell choir Northern Bronze but also guitarist John Mantegna (with whom I will be singing a duet with my high-school band director and fellow Alto II).  Please follow this link for more information about this concert, ticket information and directions to the church.

On December 19th I will be giving a concert at First Baptist as part of their noon-time concert series. The concerts are free and open to the public.  For more information about this concert and others in the series, follow this link.

Lastly I wanted to let you all know my senior recital will be May 11th at 4pm at Dibden Theatre at Johnson State College.  I'm sure I will talk more and more about my SENIOR RECITAL as we approach it but I wanted to make sure the date was on people's calendars. 

I will have more concerts coming up in the new year but until then enjoy this wonderful holiday season (it's my absolute favorite) and I look forward to seeing you soon.

All the best,
love love!
~A. Rose

Upcoming performances

Hello all!
I know it's been a while... but I wanted to try again (It's amazing how life seems to get in the way of everything you want to accomplish).  I had such a wonderful year this past year filled with amazing performances, opportunities, and people.  This summer, I'm hoping, will be no different (is that correct grammar?). 

I am so excited to announce that starting this Thursday I will be playing Lady Blanche in Unadilla Theatre's production of Gilbert and Sullivan's Princess Ida.  We will have nine shows so I'm hoping to see some of you there! The dates of that show are June 27th, 28th, and 29th (my 24th birthday!) and July 4th, 5th, 6th, 11th, 12th, 13th.  If you've never been to Unadilla (it's in East Calais) I highly recommend going! It's a gorgeous little theatre - that has been converted from an old sheep barn - and when you walk out it looks like you're standing on the Pemberley estate in England (yes, I'm aware Pemberley doesn't exist, but a girl can dream).

In addition to these shows I'm very honored to announce that I will be singing at a dear friend's wedding this weekend.  Heather - I'm wishing you all the best!! I am so very excited to help you celebrate such a momentous occasion! <3

In addition to all of this I am also so excited to be recording with Bella Voce this summer, not only in the choir but as a soloist as well.  

After Princess Ida I have a few weeks off (which will hopefully involve seeing family and friends) and then I am in another Unadilla production of Mozart's Abduction from the Seraglio.  Those shows are August 7th, 9th, 15th, 17th, 22nd, 24th, 28th, and 30th. 


In October I will be playing Marcellina in Echo Valley Community Art's production of Mozart's Le nozze di Figaro.  Those show dates are October 4th, 5th, 6th, and 11th, 12th, 13th. 

Here is a video of a duet I will be singing with the wonderful Vickie Drew.

That's all I have on my calendar thus far.  I'm sure things will pop up and when they do I will try to remember to post them here.  Thank you all so much who have supported me and continue to do so. 

Kisses!

you realize you're a music major when....

Good evening (or good morning...),
I'm obviously procrastinating finishing my essay on environmentalism and Eco-terrorism, but who wants to do that!? Actually, my paper is my inspiration for my post today.

I've had an epiphany kind of a day.  As I was getting ready for school I felt myself dragging, but then I realized I had renewed my Spotify premium membership and I had my fabulous Florence + The Machine/Gotye/Kimbra/Erato/Billie Holiday mix on my ipod and I lept out of bed to turn on my music and once the music was on, I stopped and I wondered "does anyone else get this excited for music?"  So do you?

Again, music was my force tonight.  As I was trying to write this paper I didn't want to write, and make myself focus I couldn't find the right music.  I need something new.  Something I can analyze and discover it's nuances and fall in love with the lyrics but nothing was working so I went back in time and remembered my favorite music to do homework to high school (that wasn't Lord of The Rings - because that is and will probably always be first in my book).  Run Lola Run.  If you haven't heard this music - find it.  It's amazing.  Here is one track:

Anyway, the film is amazing as well, but I just find it strange (and maybe it isn't and I'm over thinking things) that music drives my life so much, especially when I don't realize it.  I'm surrounded by music all day for homework and class work - you'd think I wouldn't want any more but silence is scarier.  Especially when silence is comprised of a cluster of pitches created by your fridge and the flashing light on your computer monitor and the light above the sink. 

I don't know if this is important to anyone, i think I just needed to write something I care about that didn't make me depressed about the environment. I look forward to hearing people's thought on Lola.

Oh! And the title of today's post came from me standing in my dinning room, about to walk into the kitchen for some water, but I couldn't walk till the "drop" (I believe it's called) in the Dub-Step song I was listening to.  Also, awesome!

PLEASE IGNORE THE CREEPINESS OF THE VIDEO - I don't know what's going on.  I just like the song... Don't judge!

Well, i guess that's it for now.  I did want to write about my AWESOME voice lesson today, but that will have to wait for another time, hopefully after I've slept and finished this paper.

Ta!
~A