Salt Lake City Recital

Due to illness I had to postpone my Salt Lake City Recital by three weeks. It was frustrating to deal with a cough/cold in the interim, but things worked out for the better since some family members and friends who couldn't make the original date were able to come on Sat. It meant a lot that we were filled to capacity. Next year I will either have to spread it out over two nights or move out of my studio to a bigger venue. I love doing it in my studio, so I think the option to do it on two different dates will be the best option.

I had been pretty ill so there were some residual things like an occasional dry cough and more phlegm than normal, but all in all I realized as I rehearsed going into this that as long as I warmed up more than I usually do and got a strong connection in my first bridge that I was good to go. It is always interesting to me how singers find ways to work around illness to get through a performance. And I felt blessed to have the education I have in singing so that I knew what my voice needed to get through this particular repertoire.

I still had the shakes when it came to playing guitar, but that will fade the more I perform and play in front of an audience. As the saying goes, "fake it til you make it!", that definitely applies to me and my relationship with the guitar in performance. I have loved developing this talent and will continue to practice every day and find opportunities to play so it becomes second nature.

As usual, I was freaking out a little a few hours before the performance. Many of you know that back in 1999 I lost my voice completely due to a traumatic event in my life and it has been a LONG road back to being able to sing again. I feel like my voice is stronger than it was before my trauma, but I still have this little warble/crack thing that occurs seemingly out of no where. It adds stress as I prepare to perform because I feel it sounds like weakness in my voice or that I made a mistake. It was happening during warm ups and Roger had to 'talk me off of a ledge' and calm me down. I am so grateful for the love and support he gives me every day, but especially when I am having moments of neurosis, he knows just what to say.

By the time I performed I was ready to go and had the mind set of not just singing and entertaining this audience, but to share my God given gift. We all have our gifts and they are meant to be shared. I was focused on that and everything went off brilliantly. It was a very special night and I can't wait for the next one.

Here I am afterward with my sisters Franci, Lissa, my mom Lajoy and Annie.