One Extremely Valuable Hour

I just got home from meeting one of my opera idols... the incredibly talented, Jennifer Larmore!
If you've never heard her before, check out this youtube video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ByPRpeI64Ic&NR=1

In the small amount of experiences I've had thus far, I feel a lot of what happens in the opera world stems from talent, connections, timing, and luck. Last March I had the pleasure of meeting the great Joyce DiDonato, another fabulous mezzo-soprano, because of a connection through my voice teacher, Dr. Regina Zona. DiDonato and Zona had both performed and studied together at the Academy of Vocal Arts. I mentioned to Dr. Zona in one of my voice lessons, that I was going to see Joyce DiDonato perform in Mozart's Le Nozze di Figao at the Lyric Opera of Chicago. Her reply, "Would you like to meet her?" Would I like to meet her!?! Uh, yes please!

I spent about 30 minutes with Joyce after the opera talking about life, her career, etc... In fact, she is the person who gave me the push to move to France. She told me, "if you have the opportunity, you MUST go. No questions." I'm glad I listened to her.

A few months ago, my mother was talking to a lady that attends my parents' church about my move to Paris. The lady mentioned she knows an opera singer who lives in Paris, "Jenny" Larmore. Umm.... you mean Jennifer Larmore?!? The lady offered to give me her contact information so I could set up a meeting while I would be living abroad. I was so nervous to contact her. I was afraid she would be too busy with more important things, or better yet, never respond. I sent the email, expecting for nothing to ever come of it. The very next day, I had a response. "I would love to meet you," she said. I was so thrilled I could hardly stand it! I immediately picked up the phone, calling all my friends I knew would understand my excitement.

Today was the day of our meeting. I figured it would probably take me an hour to get there, so I left thirty minutes earlier, giving myself plenty of cushion time in case I had trouble finding her apartment. I didn't... I got there exactly thirty minutes early. I walked around her area a little until about five minutes till. I nervously walked in her building. I kept telling myself, "Act cool." I rang the doorbell. The door swung open, and she greeted me with open arms and the most southern "hello" I've heard in a looong time! Her boyfriend made us cappuccinos while we sat and talked about her path to success and my journey thus far. She had the most wonderful advice for me, really incredible. She even wrote out a "plan" for my year and told me that she could put me in contact with her accompanist who knows a lot about the opportunities for young singers in Paris. She is leaving for a few months to sing elsewhere, but wants to get together again when she's back. In the meantime, she is having me email her some of my portfolio stuff, so she can give me suggestions. As we were saying goodbye, she looked at me and said, "You are not alone here. If you ever need anything or have a question, please call me." She was so genuine. I can't get over how incredibly kind and helpful she was today. I left her apartment high on life, all the while humming opera arias my whole way home. 

The three most important lessons I took away from my meeting today:
1. Get into shape! The opera world of today cares about appearance.
2. Approach this career as a business. I must begin to market myself.
3. One can make it in this business while keeping his or her integrity...Jennifer Larmore did!