There’s an international chamber music festival going on in Prague this summer. My brother got a recommendation from our old piano teacher for two intensive weeks of practicing, masterclasses, and daily one-on-one lessons with chamber music professionals. I might go too.
It would be so much work, but I think it’d be amazing to go to the Czech Republic! And it makes sense for me. Even though I will be outsung by the vast majority of the people there, I may never run into another opportunity like this! Now is a time in my life when I’m singing 5 times more than I ever have before. I’m studying music full time. I’m performing and attending concerts practically nonstop. I might not be an opera diva yet, but it’s still just the beginning of what I believe will be a long era for me, and this kind of intensive work in prima donna preparation is just the kind of thing I’m looking for.
I know I haven’t written very much about my practicing as of late… but I’ve been putting my all into it. I’m trying to polish a piece every week to buff up my repertoire and get performance practice. I have my music with me everywhere I go. I feel like I am constantly singing, memorizing libretto (opera lyrics), studying diction, or translating my pieces. I am putting so much of myself into my voice this quarter, and the steady progress I’ve made so far is the best motivation I could ask for. My voice feels limber. My Italian seems more natural. I have more confidence in my performances. None of this came without struggle, but it seems to me that everything is going my way 
