Last Thursday, June 19, 2003, at the Beverly Hills Hotel, I received the Undergraduate Scholarship Award from Los Angeles Chapter of the National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences (aka The Recording Academy.) The Recording Academy is internationally known for the Grammy Awards. The awards (Undergraduate, Graduate and Trade Tech) are given out to music students who have expressed their great passion in the field of music.

During the Press Conference (prior to the luncheon), I was very honored to meet (and have a photo with) Governor’s Award Recipients’ Lionel Richie and Randy Newman, as well as Dick Clark, who was the presentor for the award for Lionel Richie. Pictures with the above-mentioned will be posted soon.

Thank you, Recording Academy, for believing in me.

Toni and Chito’s 50th Wedding Anniversary Celebration went very well. Karen, Kristen, Kelly, Shawn and Apollo sang beautifully, as well as the whole Filipino Choir of St. Gerard. (May 24)

I saw “A Mighty Wind” at the Pacific Theaters in Sherman Oaks with Steve Kronauer and his friend Nik. That was a good movie!

Last Sunday, I competed for the AIFA (American Institute of Fine Arts) Vocal Competition. I was a finalist. The winners were Christina Borigoli (1st), Nazani Ashjian (2nd) and Annie Chon (3rd). As for my performance, I sang three arias. I started with “Here I Stand.” I sang the piece perfectly. By the second and the third aria, I felt my voice tightening up. I realized that I warmed up too early during the day, and resting for 3 hours without singing out fully proved to be a disadvantage to my performance. My first note in “O Colombina” was not as beautiful as expected, and I had too much “spinto” quality on “Dein ist mein ganzes Herz.” Even though I had “bravos” from the audience, the judges was still able to see through my mistakes. One thing I’ve learned from this competition is to “fully” warm up (sing out) 1 hour to 30 minutes before the actual competition or audition.

Anxious to know how the Orlando Opera Audition is going to turn out… will keep you informed.