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Yesterday, I visited Santa Barbara again, with Mona and Christina. We attended the Grace Bumbry masterclass. It was ok. My mom made sandwiches for us to eat when we got to Santa Barbara, ‘cuz earlier that day, I had to sing with the United Methodist Chancel Choir for a funeral, and had Mona pick me up at 12pm, which would make us not have enough time to eat at a restuarant.

After the masterclass, I had a lesson with Marilyn Horne. It was great as always, even better yesterday than the ones I had with her last year. She really help me focus my voice and release some tension on my face. Even Mona and Christina were impressed with the improvement. They said I really sounded better while working with her.

We left Santa Barbara at 7pm, and got home at 8:30pm. For the rest of the evening, I just watched TV, studied the “Aria of the Worm” on the video(s) that Mona gave me, and talked ot Steven on the phone.

Today (Sat, 6/26), I will be singing at a wedding, and tomorrow, after church, I will be singing for a concert at St. Linus in Norwalk.

Ciao for now!

It’s now 12:31am, Thursday, June 24.

Two days ago, I went with Mona and Christina (Borgioli) to Music Academy of the West in Santa Barbara, and listened to the Introduction of Singers. Honestly, there were more breathtaking singers last year compared to this year. The most dramatic change this year was the tremendous improvement of Tim Fallon’s voice. His voice got bigger… big time. I was very much impressed!

I actually have a coaching with Ms. Marilyn Horne on Friday after the Grace Bumbry Masterclass, so I will be staying at Miraflores until about 7:30pm.

Today, I watched most of my independent films that I rented from Netflix. I was going to finish the last one around 7:30pm, but decided to take a break and play PS2 (Sims and True Crime). After that, I found myself surfing the net and doing a variety of insignificant things.

I’ve been resting most of the time until my body recuperates from fatigue. It gets boring after a while, but I try to keep myself occupied either through PS2, DVD movies, internet, and, sometimes, even studying German.

Oh well, that’s my day today. I’ll keep you guys informed if something drastic happens. I did get my tickets for Sound of Music Sing-A-Long today…

I may start watching the last movie now… and end up finishing tomorrow morning….

Ciao, and take care!

Few weeks ago, I had hives because of stress from the Zachary Competitions. At the same time, I found out that I have elevated liver enzymes, which may specifically be due to a “regular” consumption of alcohol two weeks before the Zachary competition. After consulting with a doctor, I was instructed to take a lot of rest and good diet until my body has recovered from rebuilding itself. So basically, I have been resting at home, playing PS2, watching movies (via Netflix), and eating at least 3 times a day.

Speaking of PS2, I have been playing the following games: SIMS, Spongebob Squarepants, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Lord of the Rings (Return of the King), and True Crime-Streets of L.A.

Also, I’ve been trying to review my German by reading “Kontakte”. I may consider studying German privately with a German teacher, kinda like having voice lessons. I also have been looking at the music for Haydn’s Creation, as well as some of The Verdi Requiem music.

Some good news. I received some scholarship money from Opera Buffs and FeBland Foundation, so I will be able to coach with Marilyn Horne and Randy Behr this summer at the Academy (Santa Barbara), as well as with Nico Castel in New York come September.

I will keep everyone in touch with what I’ll be doing this summer. So far, I’m singing a wedding in June, August and September. I will also be attending the Sound of Music Sing-A-Long at the Hollywood Bowl with Mona, Steven, Christina and Darlene.

Ciao for now!

I apologize that I haven’t updated my journal for a while. A lot has happened since the last time I wrote on here.

First of all, this past school year, I sang the solo in Handel’s Messiah with the UCLA Chorale at Royce Hall (December 2003), Chino in Bernstein’s West Side Story with UCLA Musical Theater (January 2003), and the title role in Britten’s Albert Herring with Opera UCLA (February 2003).

I was also a finalist at the 2004 Loren L. Zachary National Vocal Competition held at the Wilshire Ebell Theater last May.

Next year, I will be singing the role of Leonardo in Ian Krouse’s opera, “Lorca, Child of the Moon” (2005), tenor solo in Haydn’s Creation (November 2004) and Verdi’s Requiem (June 2005) with the Angeles Chorale.

This summer, I’m just going to be staying in town, and do some occasional visits to Santa Barbara to take some lessons with Marilyn Horne and Randy Behr. Hopefully, I’ll also have some students that I can teach.

That’s it for now. At least you know I’m back, so check back every couple of days…. ciao!