Three years ago this weekend, I was in a choir at a Christmas concert. I was sitting in the back row of the Sopranos, watching a professional Soprano soloist singing her assigned repertoire.

It struck me how much she was enjoying what she was doing, and I felt rather envious. I wished I'd had the chance of singing lessons when I was younger, then I could have been doing that.....if only I wasn't too old and past it.

And a little voice inside me said "You know, you could have singing lessons. You're not too old and it's not too late". And so I dredged up the courage to phone a local singing teacher and ask for lessons.


Three years later, same venue, same choir......only tomorrow night it will be a different Soprano soloist. It'll be my debut as a professional singer.

Geographically I wont have come a long way - around fifteen feet from where I was sitting then to where I'll be standing tomorrow. Musically I'll have come a lot further - thanks in part to the help and support I've had from people on these forums.

So, about 7.40 pm tomorrow, keep your fingers crossed for me. An Adult Learner doing her best to prove it's not too late to get serious about music.

Cheers

Katyjay

Good luck..and have fun.

Lovely story KJ, all the very best for your debut Do let us know how it goes !

Woww! I love your story and I wish you all the best for tomorrow night.

Good luck, Katyjay!

Do you have to wear a 'posh frock'?

That's a huge step for you katyjay - original dream realised - I know you'll give it everything and do yourself proud! We'll be thinking of you and sending good vibes. Enjoy!!

It shows what you can do if you put your mind to something. All the best for tonight, I'll be thinking of you and I am sure you'll do yourself proud

Can I ask which arias you will be performing ? I wish I could hear you singing.

Thanks for sharing that, katyjay, a lovely story - I wish you all the very best for the concert.

Jen

Thank you for your good wishes and support, everyone. As I said, a lot of what I've achieved has really been helped by the support of the forum members here.



You can, you know. There are several opportunities:

1. You could sign up as an audience member of the Virtual Christmas Concert (details on the General Music forum). I'm singing in that.

2. You could come to the Adult Learners' Concert in February (details at the top of this forum)

3. You could come to my own first solo recital which is the Tuesday before the Adult Learners Concert (pm me for details)

or

4. You could visit the forumrecordings website set up by YetAnotherPianist and AnotherPianist. There are a couple of my recordings in the "Voice" section.

Cheers

Katyjay

Good for you, katyjay. Best of luck and ENJOY!!!

I shall be there to hear you, Katyjay - Brian and I are really looking forward to it. Good luck!

Good luck! Have a great time!

Good luck katyjay!

Car Expert

Best of luck, Katyjay. I'm looking forward to hearing all about it.

All the very best!!

Good luck!

Good luck katyjay. You've come a long way in three years. I love hearing stories like yours.

Best of luck - sure it will go fabulously and you'll enjoy every minute!

Go for it, and tell us afterwards how it all went!

I hope you have a friend or relative taking a video - or plenty of photos!

Oh, and if a masked gentleman in a black cloak tries to take you down to his underground cavern, don't go with him! Look what happened to Sarah Brightman!

Steve

Well done Katyjay - a superb performance last night! The whole concert came well up to expectations with lovely singing in a very atmospheric and appropriate setting (Royal Holloway College Chapel - an architectural gem in the baroque style).

This will sound stupid, but did you go and watch her?

I've only just picked up the thread. I've just been posting somebody else (haven't I!!) about performing.

Well done on your acheivement Katyjay and how did it go?

*ahem*

I hope it went well Katyjay! I was at my aunt's yesterday and she asked what abilities would be at the Forums concert, and I said 'every ability', and then I mentioned Katyjay's achievement, she seemed very impressed!

Well, I'm now into the low that I always have after the massive high of a performance. Especially as this has to be one of the highest highs ever.

Objectively, I sang better last night than I ever have. And my teacher only spotted one of the seven mistakes I was aware of making. So I'm rather pleased with that.

Curiously enough, I experienced almost no nerves at all - despite having forgotten my banana!

The choir sang really well, we had a good balance of sound this year. And all the audience members I talked to enjoyed the evening.

It was lovely to see so many friends in the audience, including Suepea and her family.

So I think it was quite good.

But this morning it's all over. We didn't have permission for photography or recording, so it's all just in the memory now. I'm back to wondering "What next?" Hoping that someone who heard me sing last night will give me some work......

Thanks for all the good wishes. I'm sure they helped me in the performance.

Cheers

Katyjay

Oh that's so wonderful. Well done Katyjay, I wished I could have been there too but really glad Suepea could go from the forums.

What a great achievement, and I'm sure the offers will come flooding in.

I expect you will feel a bit down now after all the build up and the adrenalin rush of the concert and performing, apparently its perfectly normal....so just look forward to the next time.

Sorry Katyjay - having misread the detail, I logged on this morning to wish you all the best for tonight ..... duh !

So pleased it went well and that you enjoyed performing.

I'm sure it's the first of many!

well done katyjay, wish i could have been there !

I wish that I could have been there, it sounds like it went really well. Congratulations!

D*** the ephemeral nature of a live performance!

Well I hope that you come off the low, and onto a general level of satisfied smugness - it sounds like you deserve to!

Just trying to imagine how you kept the running total of mistakes though

It was as if about a tenth of me was watching from the outside, and keeping tally. Sounds strange and mad now I come to think of it. And one isn't meant to do that sort of analysis while singing - so I suppose that's actually eight mistakes

I'm so glad it went well, Katyjay.

I'm glad I'm not the only one who listens to my mistakes.

well done, Katyjay!

we do believe in fairy tales!

Zoda, it's not a fairytale. Look back at my posts from two years ago when I had joined the forum having just taken my Grade 5. And Suepea will vouch for the fact that I sang at a concert yesterday. And Andante-in-C and AmandaL and Suepea have all seen my ATCL certificate in my music room.

I didn't make this up.

I don't think he meant that. Just that it was "fairy-tale like" in how it all came together in such a short time.

I offer my own congratulations and have the utmost respect for how far you've come so quick, and in having the courage to step out and try something new

Thank you, Trebor

I'm so glad it went so well for you!

Thanks, Trebor.

I'm sorry you misunderstood my comment Katyjay. I was trying to echo the very point you yourself have made over and over again on these forums - and indeed made in this thread - that you should follow your dreams because they really can come true. To me "Fairytale" as an adjective doesn't mean "invented". A "Fairytale Romance" is not one which didn't happen, it is one which lives up to your dreams! I have read many of your posts over time with interest, but without responding, but reading your post about having sat in the back of the choir 3 years ago, dreaming of being the soloist, and then 3 years later having achieved your dream, I just wanted to say "I see what you mean, well done!" The smiley selected was supposed to emphasise the point.

Although we tend to post in different forums, I notice I have now made nearly 900 posts since I joined, and I don't think any of them involved invading a happy thread and accusing people of telling lies!

Thank you for the explanation, Zoda. And for the congratulations.

I'm sorry I misunderstood your post.

Happy ending here too, I hope?

Cheers

Katyjay

very much so, and thanks for your post - I must admit that my post could have been clearer - after all you're not a mind reader!

I'm all for happy endings - I think the whole "fairy" thing was on my mind because we took the children to see Peter Pan on Saturday, and the children all had to bring Tinkerbell back to life by saying "we do believe in fairies". My little girl loved it because she's mad keen on fairies - she reads all the "rainbow fairies books" and writes to them in the garden.

So a last minute rush of happy endings before Christmas!

Congratulations! Don't you just love the way if feels when you know that you have sung your best? I know I do! Well Done!!!

Well done katyjay, I'm glad you felt it went well. Be sure to post a review of the concert here when it appears (I'm sure it'll say something like "The undoubted star of the evening was former chartered accountant katyjay...inspiration to us all...voice like an angel...such understanding of the music...").

Having made a debut of sorts myself on Saturday (playing in the orchestra for a choir concert), be sure to pass my details to the orchestral fixers you come across in the future I'm quite good at counting sixty bars' rest then coming in for four notes!

Hehe - "once an accountant..."

I'm glad you did so well katyjay - perhaps you could ask someone to record the performance for you next time .

Hope you are coming out of the low now, Katyjay. I've only just had time to look at the forums again since I posted yesterday morning as I had a "first" too yesterday with my pupils' Christmas concert, so was rushing around with last minute preparations. All went well, and I'm just finishing putting it on to CD while Brian is doing photos - fortunately we didn't have to get permission for ours (well, only from the parents re photos).

Massive congrats Katyjay, I hope this the start of a long and successful career in music for you.
Boo

To say this was a little on the late side is the understatement of the century, but just wanted to say many congratulations! I'm so glad it went well