The Midnight Battle

I am going to attempt some semi creative non fiction/ fiction..... :) Camille dont judge me too harshly!

The sun had fled the sky by the time they laid their bodies down to rest from a long day in the Italian heat.  All three of the dark haired women were in need of sleep, unfortunately sleep would not come so easily for there was an enemy in the night. 

As Isabel turned out the light and reached for her phone to turn on an alarm for the morning the first of ten attacked attracted by the light in the new darkness.  Its over sized wings and multiple legs hitting her face causing her to jump back against the wall.  Her yell woke Yolanda and caused me to jump up immediately.  I rushed to turn the light back on and assess our enemies.  Once the room was illuminated again we realized the gravity of the battle in front of us,  ten of them against the three of us.  We rushed to arm ourselves with notebooks and hair spray, their weakness.  Since flight was on their side we had to plan a careful strategy to eliminate them.  We were strongly out numbered and decided that we needed another soldier for this battle.  While Isabel held them off I rushed to find Sir Wellington, a warrior of epic height, which non of us had on our side.

Once I had found Sir Wellington we ran back to the battle field and began to engage the enemy.  Armed with only a notebook I set my eyes on the monster flying the lowest and took a swing at it. Quickly it dodged me and flew toward my face for a counter attack but i was able to hit it mid air stunning it!  The creature landed on the wall to gather again for the next attack but I was right upon it and crushed it where it stood! As the smack rang out all we realized we could win against these deadly foes and we began to double our offensive efforts against them.  All rejoiced as Isabel caught another of the monsters in a tissue squishing it immediately, then Wellington took the next kill!  As the creatures realized we were triumphing they fled the battle.  We were elated at the victory though wary that they might return. 

Ultimately the night was ours and we again laid down again to await the new dawn, this time with no Crane Flies attacking us. 

 Hope you enjoyed :) It was really a funny experience and I wanted to try a to tell it in a fun way!

Food TIME

6-29
Hello everyone!!!

PERFORMANCE:

Things have been great here I got sick a few days ago so I have been fighting with my voice but luckily this weekend we had a concert but it was the one concert I didn't sing on. But the church where we performed or In my case just watch from was so incredibly beautiful!

This upcoming week we have two concerts and I have five pieces to prepare for them. I'm very excited I am performing two solo pieces: Cara, Cara e dolce and Sea snatch. Both of these I have performed before but they are very different from the last time I sang them. Then I have two duets with Arthur both are in Italian. Then a duet with Sarah Smith called the Night Sea.

FOOD:
I have come to realize that there are really two types of food in town pizza and pasta.... For this trip we get a voucher everyday for one of two restaurants. The first is Antica which serves you three states of a meal first is bread with olive oil, then large amounts of a pasta, then a meat, then a side like potatoes or salad. It is so much food I literally can never eat all of it! Next option is San Francesco which is a pizza place and you can either go there for lunch and eat like buffe style or for dinner and get a big pizza of your choice.

I have come to realize that I am strongly missing other foods!!! I have been craving Mexican food like a crazy person but also Indian food. Then last night I wanted McDonalds!!!!!

The singers here decided Friday night that we wanted to get together and make our own food Friday night so we went together to the grocery store Super Marcato and bought gnocchi and ravioli along with red sauce and the ingredients to make pesto! Then we went to Arthur's apartment and cooked food together. It was so much fun and the food was amazing!!! Wellington made the best pesto!

AMAZING EXPERIENCE: First Concert!

 

(525,600 minutes.... Measure your life in love)

6-24

We had our second day of rehearsals and I am working on three pieces for the concert for tonight. 
Maiglockchen und die blumelein, O swallow swallow, and Triolett.  these three pieces have been really fun and hard! On Maiglockchen i sing soprano two and it has been very difficult because i have, in the past, sang soprano one 95% of the time.  so my automatic reaction is the sing the top line! It took a lot of time and practice, doing exercises such as singing my part while playing the soprano one part on the piano.  My parter for this piece was Sarah C. and she was very patient with me which was helpful!

we had a rehearsal for the first concert in the space for the first time today and it was breath taking to be able to sing there. Theater Mancinelli is the space and it was constructed in 1844 and is dedicated to Luigi Mancinelli, a composer from Orvieto.  there are frescoes on the ceiling painted by Cesare Fracassini.  It is an incredibly beautiful space.

Theater Mancinelli

 

This is an amazing experience for us because Musica Orvieto hasnt performed here in 20 years.  This trip has been amazing so far i feel so happy practicing music, singing, and spending time with everyone.  Music fills my soul and i feel so gratified.  its amazing to discover what we can put together in two days!!

 

Below is our dressing room :) Our names were on the door and everying thing i was in the same room as Alexandra and DaRell.





 

We found out during the day that the major of Orvieto was going to come play the piano at our concert which was amazing for press except that he wanted to play four songs so our already 2 hour concert would probly end up being 2 and 1/2 hours.  the concert started at 9:30 and went to midnight :).  It was incredibly fun getting ready and going to the Theater in our concert gowns and tuxes.  We took pictures before and after the performce.  The conccert went amazing!!!

 

IT WAS MY ITALIAN DEBUT!!!!

(it was everyones debut except Author, far right, who performed in Opera Orvieto right before this)

 

After the performance

 

More to come! any questions feel free to email me! alex.dycus@yahoo.com

Orvieto Here i Am!!!

6-22 Today has been my first day in Orvieto Italy and It is amazing!!!! I arrived in rome this morning and was very tired but excited.  i met a billion people because in our program is the Art of Song (7), Trumpet Fest (25-30?) and then the String players (15?). So lots of new people to meet and learn their names.  For most of the day waiting at the airport today i was with the trumpet players because the other singers hadnt arrived yet! All of them kept asking me are you a trumpet player?? and i had to say no and then quickly add but you should still like me lol!

After being at the airport for a few hours I finally started meeting the other vocalist and was really happy to find that I got along with them really well! Its funny we found out that we have three Alexandras in the program.  but we figured out how to solve the problem Alex P is going by Alexandra, i go by Alex and the other (a trumpet players) goes by Ally.  The Alex problem has been solved lol!

Once everyone had arrived we traved by bus from rome to orvieto below are some of the pictures taken on our drive. 

 Italian Mountains

   Orvieto, Italy

 

 

 Once in orvieto we had to walk up a crazy amount of stairs bc the city is set up on a hill.  One of tthe other students said that it used to be a military town. (not sure if that is true so dont quote me on it!) once we made it into the city we were separted into groups and taken to our apartments around the city.  i share my apartment with two other girls and three guys.  It is adorable and i completely love it!!! we have a kitchen with a stove, a baby washer, and a fridge in the cabinet!

That is the Fridge!!

 

 Wellington (roommate) and Kitchen

My Bedroom :)

 

 

6-23 We got our schedule for the day and my day looks likes this:

 

8:45 meet at the clock tower in town

9 have breakfast at a cafe

9:30 rehearsal for German Duet

11 rehearsal for English quartet

12 Lunch

1-4 riposo (Italians like to nap during the day) everyone in the town has to be quiet during this time

4 Finale rehearsal

4:30 triolett rehearsal

5;30 run through in Theater for the perfomance TOMORROW NIGHT!!!!

 

sorry i wasnt able to post this last night our power went out!!! i hope you all enjoy my first day of blogging!!!!! :) more to come soon! 

This crazy amazing stressful life

When i found out i was going to Italy i started a count down for the trip itself and the fundraising recital.  This is where we are at:

TRIP TO ITALY: 46 days
FUNDRAISING RECITAL: 13 days.... omg

 I have been incredibly busy getting the recital ready, I'm collaborating with some wonderful people in the show. Here are some details about what i have planned :) and the amazing people involved with me

First the wonderful clarinet player Brittany Smith, also a recent graduate of Berea College, is playing for a piece called Quia Respexit from the Magnificant.  This piece will be Organ, clarinet, and soprano :) aka me.  i have never preformed a song with an instrument that wasn't piano so this will be both a terrifying and exciting experience. 




The second is the amazing soprano Carolyn Romano who will be performing a music theater piece with me called "The Mist" from Dracula.  For all my musical theater pieces I wanted to do more acting while singing so Carolyn will be my acting companion. There will be spoken dialogue before and during this piece. It's one of my favorite pieces because the way Wildhorn wrote the accompaniment, it is incredibly haunting. A big thank you to Carolyn for giving her wonderful acting talents to my piece!!!




The last collaborator that I have is my own James Bonta, the super amazing wonderful handsome Baritone  who has graciously let me volunteer him for two duets.  James and I will be singing "I'd give it all for you" and "When the Sun goes Down". Both of these duets are close to my heart especially because these pieces remind me so much of our life. December of last year James and I took some time apart long story short it didn't stick. Thank God :) "I'd give it all for you" is a piece about a couple who break up and suddenly run into each other one day. They recount what they have done while apart and then realize that they may not be perfect but they would give it all away (house, car, freedom, etc) to have the other person back. Then "When the Sun goes Down" is about a couple faced with parting.  The woman Nina is about to leave for college and the man Benny is leaving for a job.  The couple singing about their feelings for each other and the sadness of leaving. My favorite line in the whole piece is Benny saying " We will be working hard, but if we drift apart let me take this moment just to say, that you are gonna change the world some day and ill think of you every night at the same time, when the sun goes down".  this song sings to my heart because in about a year James and I may be faced with something similar, we both want to go to graduate school and are unsure if we will end up at the same one. BUT I don't have any doubt that we will find a way to make it work so no one needs to worry :)

So there is the line up for the people in my recital needless to say i am so excited for the performance now i just have to get ready.  There has been some craziness with lessons so this may be my first recital that I have gotten together basically on my own. Along with help from my FABULOUS accompanist Larry. I really could not have done this without him!

What do I have left to do you ask.... well....

• Memorize all the music 
• Plan reception
• Plan costume/ find or buy a dress
• Plan staging
• figure out mics for the music theater section
• make sure people are actually coming... 
• meet with a voice teacher to work on two opera arias
• survive the next two weeks and not get sick
• and finally..... Enjoy sharing my music with everyone :)

Till next time :)
Alex

Progress in Fundraising :)

hello everyone!!

So far the campaigning is going really well! i am at $750 online which is amazing and i am so thankful to everyone that has been sharing my link and who have donated!  i have also saved $100 of my own and another friend of the family donated $100 and sent it to my family!!! so here is a chart of how im doing.

Ovieto Musica tutition: $2,750

Airline ticket:                $1,800

Total:                             $4,550

Deposit:                           $500

                   Gofundme:                      $750 (minus 5%)

Personal Savings:            $100

Other donations:              $100

Total:                              $1,400

This was also sent to my facebook yesterday from close family friends! Thank you guys!!!
They are sending a money order to my parents in Texas to put in my savings account there!

Tonight i worked to get all the personal CD's ready for all those who have donated to get those :) My roommate Bee helped me color them... hers are the yellow ones :) im looking forward for everyone to hear these but very nervous at the same time.  Though i am proud of all the work i have done over the years, i know that i have so much room to grow.  I truly believe that this trip to Italy will help with that. 

 

 

 

 

 

I have also worked this weekend on a poster to help alert the public in Berea about my recital.

However I have found that they are super expensive!!! i think the posters are going to end up pretty small 8 X 10 but ill be able to put them up at some places around town and hopefully attract some people to come to my recital! I have sent it out to be approved before i can print it but this is the early viewing!

 

I have been working on the program and the program notes (any music major can tell you thats not the fun part)! 

 

As always please check out my online campaign at http://www.gofundme.com/SingoutItaly

Thank you all so much for following and taking an interest in my trip! 



Shocked and Amazed!

wow!!!

 i have to say i wasnt expecting this much support so fast! i am 27% of my way to the online fundraising goal!

can you say amazing!!!!

 

 i am so thankful to have all of these donations coming in and i am so excited to start sending stuff out to people. i am in the process of making the cd so far i have ten songs that i have recorded over the years.  2 from my sophmore year, 3 from junior year, then 5 from senior year.  it was pretty cool to listen last night and see how much i have changed.  im in the process of making a booklet that goes witht he cd, it will talk about each of the songs.  another cool thing i was thinking about adding is a song i wrote recently as a bit of a bonus track.  i just need to get it recorded :) so those of you who have cds coming i hope you like it. your one of the few people who have ever heard my own music :)

 

Another update in my fundraising life is that i offically have a date for my Fundraising Recital at Union Church!!! i talked to Kent Gilbert the pastor on friday morning and they are graciously going to host the recital Sunday May 19, 2013 at 3pm :) needless to say i am so very excited!!  If you would like to RSVP the link above takes you to facebook event page! Id love as many people there as possible even if you cant contribute please just come out and hear me sing. the more the merrier!

 

i got an email from someone on friday asking some questions about my trip so i wanna add them on here and give the answers.  That way if someone else was wondering the same thing they would know as well!  the person asked:

 

"Hey Alex...can you give a little more info about the trip, please? I see that you leave June 22, for 3 weeks.... who is sponsoring the trip? How'd you get opportunity to be involved in this trip? How much does the trip cost/ are you trying to raise total? How much do you still need to raise? And, I understand your talent & I 'get' the benefits of this trip for you, but for those that don't that are reading your request, Italy would be an amazing opportunity for anyone, what makes this opportunity different on the 'vocal' side for you...are there not the same opportunities & chances for growth in the US? " 

 

then here is my answer:

 

"I'd loved to answer questions about the trip. this opportunity came about when i performed in a master class with Nyela, who is the director of this program, Orvieto Musica. She worked with me and then suggested that i apply for the trip but by then the application deadline was past so I couldnt. However, the program had a last minute cancellation and Nyela thought of me and asked to take the spot.

The trip in total will be about 5000 and i am trying to raise half 2,500 and get a loan for the other half, Or if i can raise more than 2,500 that would be even better. So far what i have online here is the only money that i have raised and personally i have saved 500 so far.

The benifits of this trip being in Italy is that while i am abroad the program offers daily italian lessons which will help improve my diction when singing in italian. Being in Orvieto speaking italian everyday will help me understand the language better, therefore when i am singing in italian i can also be more expressive. Another benifit of this trip is the performance aspect, during the three weeks abroad we will be traveling and performing. Also the contacts i will make through this trip will help me when i apply to graduate school because these teachers will have worked with me and know my capabilities.

Vocally i will be able to grow immensely because i will be taking daily voice lesson and working in master classes! This intensive vocal work will push me to work hard daily and grow more everyday. "

 

If anyone has anymore questions feel free to ask me on here or email me personally at alex.dycus@yahoo.com im always available to answer question about the trip or anything else you wanna know about me :)

 

a big thank you again to everyone that has donated and all those that are supporting me through this!!! Love yall!

 

1st Blog EVER!!!

hello everyone,

I made this blog for the days leading up to my trip to Orvieto, Italy! Plus while i'm in Italy as well.  Ive been hard at work trying o come up with fundraising ideas! So far I have an online fundraising campaign at http://www.gofundme.com/2hxp48, and im planning a fundraising recital! So far im pretty sure there will be one at Union Church in Berea KY and then im hoping i can also perform at a few other churches as well! im doing everything i can to save and fund raise money for this trip! 

Here is the link for the program that I am hopefully attending! i still am waiting for the acceptance letter though ive been told it is coming :) www.orvietomusica.org
The tuition itself is 2,750 but that isnt including my air fare which is looking like it will be 1,800 ugh... i know its a lot but this opportunity will be so amazing for me! After five rejection letters from graduates school that i have applied to i was feeling kinda down on myself when it came to music as my career HOWEVER i am not going to give up! i believe this trip this summer is my next step in growing as a vocalist and working towards graduate school!

I called this blog Following my Destiny because lately more than ever i have felt like i am on the right path in my life.  Even though my life isnt exactly where i though it would be right now i know it is the right one. My dad used to tell me all the time that there is always more that one path and we choose where we go, there also always something about he would drag me down the right back kicking and screaming if he had to. Good news he didnt have to.  From the moment i got accepted at Berea College and i decided to go i felt like destiny was like YEAH THATS RIGHT!! then when i got all the no letters from graduate school then james and i broke up for a little while i felt like i was lost something was wrong, id apparently fallen off the path. But things slowly came back together james and i worked out things (and are doing great now in case you were wondering), i got my amazing job at Savage Syndications, i was enjoying singing at union choir with a very different choir than i was used to, and then this trip laid itself out for me! im finally back on the path.  Maybe i was meant to take a year off from school get to know a more relaxed side of myself lol or maybe i was meant to stay in kentucky.. who knows im just glad i am indeed following my own destiny! 

much love... another blog coming soon!!!