The adventures of Miss Despina

I’ve been back almost a week now and I have to say that I’m getting increasingly anxious about enrolling at uni, getting my student loan through, and submitting the volumes of paperwork, reports and receipts needed to get the final part of my Prague grant. I have a lot of extra-curricular stuff to organise, language classes to enrol for (Italian stage 2 and beginners’ Spanish) and somewhere in the middle of this lot I have to find a job so I have enough money to pay my phone bill so I don’t have to perform a sexual favour on someone from 3 mobile, or an employee of my bank. Shudder!

But, on the plus side, I have singing work coming in thick and fast, and this doesn’t even include Christmas! This weekend I’ll be singing high mass in a church in Manchester on Friday night and Mozart’s Coronation Mass (with the lovely Agnus Dei) in a church somewhere in the hills on Saturday, and getting nicely paid for both. Then in October I’m doing chorus in a come and sing the Messiah, as I’ve never done a whole one in chorus so it will be a challenge and a good experience. I’ve also just been asked to sing at a venue where I cancelled two years ago, and thought the organisers had (justifiably) struck me off their books - so that’s good. Then in November, a dinner cabaret followed by a lunchtime recital a week later - in my hometown! Finally this prophet is being recognised in her own town!

Then in December, which I’m really excited about, I’m singing in a concert with an opera company I love. We haven’t had an easy time of it recently, but membership is high with 22 of us at the last rehearsal (an a few regulars missing), including a young bass I recruited myself. When I sing there I am surrounded by singers I love and respect, and who are all so accomplished that there is no jealousy, cattiness or upstaging going on. Everyone is too professional for that! There are some stunning voices there, and everyone contributes solos or small ensemble pieces to the concerts, as well as working together to make a tremendous noise in the choruses. I have some brilliant friends up there, I’m so glad I joined them. What I’m more excited about though, is our Pocket Opera / Come and Sing Day, where we’ll be singing A one act opera plus some of our big chorus numbers and a few solos. The point of this day is to raise money, raise our profile in Manchester, and to recruit new singers and audience. Everyone will be welcome to sing, although our members will be singing the principal parts, of course.

I want to audition for a part, but I already have an important job that day. Anyone who speaks Italian will know that it’s a delightful language. However, some people just have a mental block when it comes to singing in anything except English, and some of the singers there on that day might never have sung Italian before. So I am going to coach Italian pronunciation! I was amazed that my offer was accepted actually, but I’m really excited about it. I just need to put together a fool-proof tutorial, run it past a couple of singing friends and the M.D. of course, then go in there and assert myself and do a good job! I also know that my Italian teacher coaches the singers at the conservatoire next to my uni, so he will be a good source of information.

There are auditions in November I’m considering going to for an opera company I have sung with in the past. The advantages of auditioning for this are obvious - it’s a good opera, and any experience is good. However, the company have treated me really quite crappily in the past, both from committee, unwelcoming singing members, and the horrid  talentless stuck-up tone-deaf woman who was running things last time I looked. Don’t get me wrong, I like a lot of the people up there too, I’ve made some nice friends. But if she were on the panel, I could go in there and sing like Anna Netrebko and I could still forget about a part, despite the fact that I have more class in my left tit than she has in her whole being.

I don’t even care if she reads this, I am just sick to death of small-mindedness like hers. Sometimes I worry about who’s reading this and whether it’s going to damage me professionally, but other times I just think Sod It!

Annnd….. I can’t remember my point. But anyway, I feel very happy about the amount of professional singing I’ll be doing over the next few months. I also have my favourite accompanist for most of the gigs - which makes all the difference.