I realized it's been awhile since I did a professional-Bray update. It's hard to remember what I've said already, but since the life of a musician is a bit confusing, I'll just begin with-well-the beginning of Seattle.
Bray officially began rehearsals the first week of October, and he was supposed to have learned the 1st opera they are doing, as well as some other music. We didn't
really know what to expect, as we've only done summer YAP's before (YAP= Young Artist Program) so we just went into it, trusting God would guide us.
His 1st day was fairly uneventful (besides the absolutely crazy, ridiculous bus system here in Seattle) and he seemed to receive good feedback from the directors, coach-accompanists and language teachers. We were hoping he would have a semi-regular schedule, but, alas, they get their schedule for the following day at 7 pm. This makes it a little tricky to plan other things, but we are now in a sort of rhythm.
A typical day for Bray includes a 3-hour staging/run-through of the opera in the morning, and then vocal coachings, Italian lessons, and personal repertoire coachings throughout the rest of the day. He gets done about 6:00pm, but often has evening events to perform at, such as dinners, meetings, private parties, etc.. One great thing so far is that every few weeks or so, they bring in an agent or representative of different opera companies around the country to hear all the 'Yappers' audition. (Yappers is the nickname they call themselves...aka Young Artists).
One difficult thing has been the scheduling, though. They rehearse 6 days a week, from Wednesday through Monday, which means he has rehearsals on Sundays. This is a new thing for us, and it is not typically a regularity in the opera world either. The director here (who is a big name) flies to LA on Tuesdays to teach at UCLA, thus making it mandatory for them to rehearse on the weekends.
We are not thrilled about this, but change comes slowly, right? We go to early services on the days that he has rehearsals.
However, due to Bray's good work ethic, and attitude, the director seems to like him so far, and has been willing to listen to his opinions, etc.. We continue to ask for your prayers as we pursue this field-it is most definitely not dominated by Christians, and needs to be! I have been very impressed with how Bray has said 'No' when he needs to, and not been hesitant to state what he believes and what he is there to do.
They begin performances of their first opera,
Eugene Onegin, a Russian opera that they are performing in English, this weekend. It is the typical operatic storyline in that it is about 2 best friends, fighting over a girl, and it ends with a duel and ultimately, Bray's death. He told me it's very dramatic and moving, and I am VERY excited to see it!
I hope I have not drawn this out too long, but like I said earlier, it's hard for me to explain the crazy music life in few words. One last thing, that Bray himself would not tell you, but being the proud, excited wife, I have to brag a little...2 of the directors said that Bray is 1 of their favorite up-and-coming tenors, as long as he gets all the final details in place! So again, do keep us in your prayers, especially Bray as this is a challenging career! We miss you all, and let us know if you want to come see him perform!
The Seattle Young Artists.
The fun fountain!
Looking up at the Space Needle.
