Hello everyone! It's my birthday today and I'm turning the ripe old age of 25! I must admit, usually on my birthday I feel a little depressed, since maybe I did not accomplish everything that I wanted. However, as I look over the past year, it makes me so happy. Never in my wildest dreams did I think so many amazing things could happen!
The fact the I've been blogging every single day on Being Cleopatra since November of 2010 may seem like a big accomplishment but no, there's more!
Here is a recap: Just a few days before my 24th birthday, I had just returned from my 3rd consecutive summer in Florence, Italy...I must say the 3rd summer was the best yet and made up for me having to break my streak of not returning this year. Then in February, I made my Carnegie Hall where I came in 2nd place in an international opera competition. After 10+ years of operatic training, I got a job that I never thought in a million years I would ever do, singing on a cruise ship! It was the most fun job I've ever had! I went to the Mediterranean and then to Alaska. It even made it more special that I got to bring my mommy both times...it was my little way of saying thank you for all the support she provided throughout my life!
My biggest accomplishment of them all was my debut CD Cleopatra's Voice! For those of you who do not know, Cleopatra's Voice is a CD of rare classical vocal music which portrays Cleopatra...and it's also the inspiration for this blog. The amount of work that went into it was truly a labor of love. I have always had a passion for discovering rare music because I hate that so many beautiful pieces will be left unheard.
I don't think there was a day that I even left my room...really! The amount of research I had to do for http://www.CleopatrasVoice.com on things that had never even been researched before (example: the life of composers Gaston Carraud and Paolo Litta) was an overwhelming task to take on. The other overwhelming task was getting the music for Non mi vantar gli allori by Giovanni Pacini (the 4th track on the CD). It had never been recorded, probably because the only surviving score was in the library at the Vatican! I used my meager Italian to correspond with...um...the Vatican and, to my surprise, I awoke one morning to find the 19th century handwritten manuscript scanned and sent to my email!
Alas, my job of introducing rare music to the world will go unaccomplished if no one actually listens to the CD! I make a point of not obnoxiously advertising the CD in every other post on this blog.
The money it took to make Cleopatra's Voice came from my own pocket. It was a labor of love and I absolutely loved doing it. However, I can't continue in my pursuit to introduce rare music to the world without a little help!
The greatest present of all on my birthday would be: Buy the CD...please!
Buy it now!
If opera ain't your thing, here are some other things that would also make my birthday special:
Buy it now!
If opera ain't your thing, here are some other things that would also make my birthday special:
1) Advertise to your opera lovin' friends!
2) "Like!" the page on Facebook
3) Donate! Cleopatra's Voice is the 1st of 3 CDs that will each represent an iconic woman in history...next one: rare classical vocal music that portrays Juliet (from Romeo and Juliet). I have already put hours and hours into this project, ANY donation will allow the CD to be made!!
Thank you for your continued support of Being Cleopatra and I hope you will also enjoy Cleopatra's Voice!
Thank you for your continued support of Being Cleopatra and I hope you will also enjoy Cleopatra's Voice!
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