While looking for more singing opportunities, I decided to apply for a program in Salzburg, Austria. By this time Dave and I were struggling to make ends meet, between my unemployment check and his job insecurity we were terrified of what was coming next. I felt going to Europe and testing my Operatic feet was an opportunity to create a job singing. I needed the exposure and thought this was going to be my big break. Every Opera singer makes the European pilgrimage at one point in their career. I had to step on faith! He didn’t agree. I applied anyways! I had to make a video Audition and write countless essays but on Christmas Eve, I got the best present! I was accepted! I was happy and scared. My husband was mostly scared. Then something terrible happened. As I said, I had to rob Peter to pay Paul. When I was rolling the dough, I decided to upgrade from my Chevy Aveo to a safer and bigger PT Cruiser. She was my pride and joy. I had every intention to keep her for the rest of her days. I had been able to support the payments up until my Firing at the production company. The unemployment was not enough. Plus it cost me more to do the opera in Santa Barbara than what they paid me. I was driving two hours each way on bald tires too. I prayed for a miracle. I rode on faith knowing that the Lord had me in his hands. After getting the Acceptance letter from the Festival in Salzburg, I knew the Lord was bringing forth Miracles right to my feet. As I turned the TV off to go sleep I heard the idling roar of a tow truck. I am very used to this sound with the mechanic down the alley! We hear it all the time. However, it was much closer than usual; it was taking my car away!!! Wait, What??? I got this great news during the day and now this? Devastated; I ran outside and pleaded with the tow truck driver! Previously that day, I had ran to the bank and sent in a payment. That didn’t work. I got out some of my property and took it inside crying. All of this happened on Christmas Day. I decided not to let this experience take the work ethic out of me. I threw my efforts into fund raising and getting myself ready for Salzburg. Once I got the assigned music, I began to study and learn every single note. I developed a daily routine for myself that involved learning music, managing my fundraising, and learning as much German as I could. I worked so hard some days, I forgot to eat and make dinner for my husband. My hair, though still was not growing as fast as it previously did. It was breaking more than growing! I didn’t know what was going on. I was trying to squeeze out that inch in enough time to braid it. The texture changed so much I thought that this was my future; dry, brittle, dull. The curl had gone. My hair literally grew out my scalp straight and fuzzy. When I put gel on it; I got nothing, no curl. I pressed on and held out for that one inch. After months of preparation, I was ready to go to Salzburg! I had managed to raise $4000 for the trip, the dresses, and the room and board! I was very proud and prepared. The one thing that was the hardest was figuring out what to pack. There are some extreme weight limits which can be stifling to a baby diva like me. I had to pack for ball gowns plus my regular clothes and shoes. Since I didn’t get that one inch of hair, I decided to trim my hair and wear it in a nice round natural. By this time I had discovered the magic that is Eco Styler Argan Oil Gel. It was cheap and good! I had begun slicking my hair back into a Josephine Baker style hairdo. This helped me grow out my hair before and I thought it would help again. With this gel I had managed to at least show off my waves. The only hair that managed to curl was in the back of my head. This was a marked improvement from the damaged colour bits that stuck straight out my head. What was I going to take with me? I wanted to pack some curl cream for everyday styling and moisture, Gel for slicking down, and shampoo and conditioner. I realized that anything I couldn’t pack I could buy at the markets overseas. This is my favorite thing to do too! I was going to be in Salzburg for three weeks so my curly girl supplies had to last. I got some cute plastic, screw top containers and loaded my Curl cream in, and combined my shampoo and conditioner together. I made it through the weight limit. Lesson Learned? Keep working on your goals even when the life throws you a curve ball.

Salzburg Voice Festival in Review

Now that I have fully unpacked, I feel as if I can give you an assessment of the past two and a half weeks I spent in Salzburg, Austria. Leaving Salzburg was one of the hardest things for me to do mentally and physically! Traveling to the airport with two suitcases and a backpack is no easy task! I knew I was going to miss this country when a young man helped me load my suitcase onto the bus. The people here are reticent at first glance, but once you get past the blank face and quiet nature they are friendly warm and very helpful people. This ice can only be melted by attempting to speak German to them! Once I got through the security of this tiny airport, I sat down and gazed out of the window to the beautiful mountainous skyline. I knew I was trading one Mountain View for my own mountain view of the San Gabriel Valley. Once I was on the plane, it became abundantly clear, this is nothing like the SGV and I was going to miss it terribly! Looking at the ever decreasing view, gave me a bittersweet pang of regret and sadness. This had been an intense experience that changed me forever. Yet, coming home I will have to admit is a bit of a letdown. Where do I go from here? I am at zero and I have to work to another goal. Once you have committed time, effort and passion to a project, coming home afterwards feels weird.
To give an honest view about the Salzburg Voice Festival, I needed to order my thoughts in away to paint a clear perspective of what I endured for the whole of July. I remember at Church, the pastor preached about criticism and how healthy criticism can benefit everyone especially the one being criticized. If I can recall there were four points of criticism that you should address. What did I like, what didn’t I like, what did I learn, and what could be improved upon? I would like to add a fifth question how did this experience help me? This is how I am going to address my experience.
What did I like? The one thing in this whole six month journey that I like was how I rose to the challenge! In six months, I learned how to raise money for a big project, market and sell merchandise for the goal, galvanize all of my resources and build something from absolutely nothing! I gathered support from all of you and people who heard about me from other people! This is a major skill! I learned 23 pieces of music! I rose to the challenge of learning new pieces from nothing, and refined pieces of music I had previously put away, plus I able to build on my German skills! With the help of Marya and my sheer determination, I developed a study plan and practice schedule. I committed myself to this project like it was indeed my job! I traveled to a foreign country, alone and managed to get there in one piece without missing a plane or getting lost! When I got to the festival, I was incredibly prepared and overwhelmed my teachers with the amount of musical preparation. I was ready. This gave me an amazing feeling of confidence. I also liked that I was able to get along with my fellow festival colleagues! I found almost everyone genuine, kind, affable and extremely talented.
What didn’t I like? I will be the first to say I DO NOT LIKE THE HEAT! It was very hot and humid there! I also brought home some nasty bug bites! As for the festival it was clear that the youthful vigor of its two organizers was matched by the plentiful experience of its 18 participants. One pianist, three practice rooms, and all day in the outskirts of Salzburg, made the whole experience feel isolating. In addition, the only opportunity that we would be heard was going to be in one publicized concert of Ave Marias at the end of the festival. We began to feel a little bit let down by what was promised and what was actually delivered. This didn’t stop me from giving my all in the recital I performed. Yet, it was disappointing being in the city of the biggest classical summer music festival and not having the opportunity to be heard by more people. I did not like that!
What Did I learn? I learned that in a lot of areas I am still very green. The acting lessons I received gave me a bigger picture of what it is like to be on stage with a scene partner. I had a great teacher in Javier Andrade. He was able to get me to see the importance of listening to my scene partner. Listening and understanding is key to bring more depth to the phrase am singing as well. I had a great scene partner in the Venezuelan tenor Francisco Morales. He played Cavaradosi to my Tosca. I learned so much from him in terms of bringing more emphasis to key parts of the phrase that I sang in the duet. He also is extremely professional! One can always look to professional singers for lessons on how to carry yourself gracefully! One should always present your best self to the public. I learned to listen to the culture of the people. Salzburg is a very conservative country that has a quiet calm about it! Never did I put on an iPod to block the sounds of loud talking or street noise. This helped me to hear the music inside of my head even better than I do in the states! This also helped me to engage people in conversations in German!
What could be improved upon? On my part, I feel as if I could have done a little more research about festival and learning opportunities in Austria. Hindsight is definitely 20/20. Once I was here and saw what this city had to offer in terms of Musical training, I should have set my sights on the Mozarteum. This phenomenal institution also has a summer training program. The faculty consisted of Anna Tomowa-Sintow, Grace Bumbry, Barbara Bonney, and Edda Moser just to name a few. Being exposed to the great singers and studying with them would have been better match to the skills I brought and am trying to acquire. In its’ second year, the Salzburg Voice Festival was extremely ambitious with its’ intentions of producing an opera film, handling eighteen 80 minute long recitals each night and producing opera scenes in two weeks. Consequently, we all suffered through disorganized rehearsals, logistical disasters of filming in unpredictable weather, plus we were never able to sing through all of the scenes we prepared. It was a mess! This “festival” severely lacked the structure and organization that would offer its’ singers a more well rounded and balance experience. Consequently, we lost three singers necause of the frustration, false promises and utter confusion. One student defected to the Mozarteum out of the sheer desperation. One cannot foster the career ambitions of 18 singers in two weeks. Though, I do not regret going; after all, I met and worked with some of the most extremely talented singers from all around the world, world class a piano trio and opera director.
How did this experience help me? Ultimately, this experience helped me to recognize that I have the ability to make my goals a reality. Once I received the acceptance letter, there was nothing stopping me from accomplishing the goal. It helped me to focus my studies and dig deeper into my vocal technique. When I got to my first coaching, I was proud of the way I was singing. It helped me to see what kind of artist I am becoming. Getting the feedback from my peers helped me to see where I needed to improve vocally and interpretively. This experience inspired me to become the best version of myself and represent my product in a more professional way. Though there were some aspects about the festival that I would have changed. I am still glad I had the guts to go and have the experience. I know I can do it. I have made a promise to go to the summer program next year at the Mozarteum.

The Salzburg Voice Festival

2011 was a very good year for singing; I had my first role with Long Beach Opera, got a glowing review in the Los Angeles Times, sang in the chorus for Opera Santa Barbara, and sang in various concerts throughout the year. Yet, I wanted to do more with my singing. A desire was growing in my heart to stretch my singing to the next level. Subsequently, I set my sights on applying to various Resident Artist and Training programs.
I started the 2011 off with a stressful job as a receptionist at a film production company. Regrettably, they let me go at the beginning of the year. Since finding another job in this economy was proving difficult, I decided to use my unemployed time to dedicate myself to my music. Ironically, this is where I was having the most luck! I developed a goal for myself; daily practice, look for gigs, and apply to as many programs I felt could help me develop my skills as a performing artist in the operatic field.
Yap Tracker was essential in searching for Programs. I looked for everything, Master Classes, chorus gigs, and Resident Artist programs. Searching through the database started to feel like Goldilocks looking for the perfect bed; this one’s too expensive, this one’s too large, this one’s apparently wants babies! I found four programs that struck my intentions to train, gain some experience, and make some contacts. Out of the four, I set my sights on going to Salzburg!
The Salzburg Voice festival is a fairly new summer program founded by the pianist Jonathan Floril and Mezzo Soprano Therese Mahler. It’s an intense two week program which focuses on voice lessons, coaching’s, German language courses, and performing in and around the Salzburg Area. There are only 12 participants. This makes it easy to learn, observe, and participate without getting lost in the shuffle. After hearing the testimonies of the three award winning participants, I was convinced this is where I needed to be in order to shape myself as a product!
The S.V.F. has an engaging application process as well. In addition to submitting an application, headshot and resume, there is an essay section. The questions really gage your true intentions about who you are as a singer, where you want to go with your career, and how you plan to get there. They also have a scholarship essay as well.
Summer programs can be very expensive, especially if they take place overseas. There is room and board, insurance, airfare and the tuition to factor. Getting the scholarship was important in making my decision to attend. The tuition is a reasonable €1290(Approx. $1660). Fortunately; I was able to receive a scholarship that covers 75%. Given my financial state, covering the rest has been a challenge. I heard about a fundraising website called www.indiegogo.com which allows you to set up a fundraising campaign on line to send to your family, friends and patrons. The money goes to your PayPal account to be used for your expenses. I have also raised money through my church job, and through eBay sales. Happily, I have been blessed with such a supportive family and patron base, all who believe in my talents and want to see me develop as an artist.
In conclusions, going to Salzburg, Austria will be a pilgrimage for me as a singer of Mozart. The opportunity to absorb the spirit of the location and the history is thrilling. Being accepted to this intense program is the highlight of the year. This summer, I know my life will be enhanced and forever changed by this experience. My hopes are to gain knowledge, reconfirm my passion and commitment to the vocal arts and develop connections with other singers and musicians.

www.salzburgvoicefestival.com

www.indiegogo.com/dabneys-salzburg-fund