The Juilliard Years part 1

I began Juilliard ..being asked to sing in Evelyn Lear's Masterclass.  I sang in front of a full house and the aria was 'Stridono Lassu" from Pagliacci.  I remember being really nervous, because now I felt I had to really prove something.  Boy, was it proven to me how much I needed to "let go."  Ms. Lear was gracious and kind, and at the time I was starting lessons with Edith Bers... oh boy, my first mistake...but continued studying with her thinking that I couldn't really do anything about it.

 At that time, in the same voice studio with me was Audra McDonald.  I remember us having lunch together and having bitch sessions about how bad the lessons were and how we wanted to do something about that. 

Ok... back to the master class...LOL...

During the time that sang in the aria, Ms. Lear stopped me and acted like Canio, and said,"I will kill you..." this brought back a huge flashback of a not so good childhood and I broke down and cried...she hugged me and asked if I was ok...I said yes...and continued...She asked me sing the entire aria again without stopping and after I was done, I  had a standing ovation.

People still write to me about this and I learned how to release the voice maybe for the first time...really the first time in my life.  I knew what it really was to be in the moment of singing and using my voice and giving it permission to be really seen as truth. 

Evelyn Lear, and the President of Juilliard and many people congratulated me in the President's office, all claiming that they will see me at the MET...

Little did I know that life would take many twists and turns to make this happen!