The adventures of Miss Despina

I think I’ve finally decided what I’m going to do with my last year of uni. It’s a question of balance between the singing and the academic. Too little singing and not only will it be bad for my career in that I’ll get no experience and no-one will hear me, I may also shrivel up and die. Too much singing and I’ll either have a repeat of last November where I almost went crazy with rehearsals and coursework, or I’ll fail uni.

Firstly the academic stuff:

• No dissertation.
• Instead I’ll take Italian level 2, since that’s the only thing I’m very good at in uni, and do a project about something that interests me.
• Maybe begin learning Spanish on the side, if I can get it funded again.

Work experience:

• It’s not as glam as Prague, but I’m going to try and do some work in the media centre of the Alliance Francaise in Manchester. Which reminds me I should probably email them.
• Get a part-time library job. So I actually know what it’s all about.
• Be a personal assistant to the director of a show. Which basically means looking after his diary, and doing jobs he would rather delegate than do himself. The advantages of this are manifold for both of us: for me, experience, for him, relative sanity.
• No stupid shop-jobs. I’d rather put 9 hours a day towards passing the final year of my degree and having a good time doing my thing.

Then the singing stuff:

• Apparently a local cathedral choir is desperate for sopranos. They rehearse on Wednesday nights so it wouldn’t be a case of weekly sight-singing. I’ve been having withdrawal symptoms from Catholic mass, and to be involved in something so prestigious would be a brilliant experience for me. I could also fit it in around the other singing I do.
• No Bugsy Malone in November, even though my society at uni is doing it. I’ve got 3 concerts around that time, with different repertoire in each, and I’ll have a heavy workload too. So I’m contenting myself with being PA to the director.
• A cabaret and a lunchtime recital already booked for November. I stupidly undersold myself for the cabaret and am struggling to find a pianist. But I’m being heard again, after too many months away!
• Lots of singing with the wonderful opera group I’m in in Manchester. The standard is excellent as we are all proper singers, and because everyone is good, no-one is competing, and the atmosphere is productive and positive. Next concert in December.
• A part in Iolanthe in April 2008. I say a part, because I’m a good enough singer, and if I don’t get a part, there’s no point spending all that time and effort on a production that means nothing on my CV.
• See my singing teacher again, religiously. It’s so long since I saw her, I hope things will still be ok between us, and that she’ll understand I’ve been ill and stressed and busy and not had anything to work up to. We shall see.
• Will try to get my Wedding Singer business off the ground. I have a series of marketing strategies up my sleeve, so that I can actually earn from my singing instead of a few quid here and there. This would benefit me in so many ways.

And then in summer, hopefully I will graduate and have to face the real world! No, save me!