The technology in my life

I think technology is a very good tool to facilitate the work of any profession.  In my case, as a musician and singer, I use technology a lot to communicate and organize many things on my agenda, organize my scores for my study and concerts.

In this globalized world I think it is very important to have social networks.  In my case, social networks have helped me to know more people, to make my work known, since I don't usually upload videos of me singing, I don't like them.  Fluent and rapid communication is also a result of the progress of technology and globalization.  Today it is very useful have WhatsApp, it helps me to communicate with my whole world, family, friends, or work.

A couple of years ago I worked at a couple of schools in Puente Alto.  During my process as a teacher, I used huge visual technological tools to teach entertaining music lessons.  I used the projector a lot to do lessons with slides, we watched movies, my students exhibited their works and presentations, etc.

Another useful element for me, during my process is the voice recorder.  I had a voice recorder when I began to study singing, thanks to this object I recorded my classes and so after reviewing the recordings, I knew things to improve for the next class.

Finally, I want to talk about an object that I talked in a previous blog, the iPad. I find this tool tremendously useful for me as a musician.  Before, I had to walk with a huge amount of books and scores in my backpack, thanks to the iPad, I do not need to have extra weight in my backpack and I help the environment with not unconsciously using prints.

Effectively, using and knowing how to use technological tools help us if we use them in a good way.

So much to do!!

My challenges for 2020 are so many.

First of all I would like to further improve my technique to be a better singer.  Therefore I am focus on studying much more, than previous years, to start singing in more places and make more auditions.

This year I started with very good news, I was appointed to be a stage director in an Opera Company, the Compañía Lírica Disidente. My biggest challenges are focused on being able to work, in the best possible way, in this company, we are in the creative process to perform many operas productions, in fact, we are in the creative process to release an opera in Chile, the Debussy’s L’ enfant prodigue.

I want to do many more soloist concerts.  I am organizing a piece composed for solo baritone and string accompaniment, the Schubert’s Winterreise.  This piece of music was composed for singing and piano, but I got a arrangement made by a Danish arranger, the cellist Richard Krug, who was very happy to give me the arrangement to do it here in Chile. This composition, the Winterreise, was transcribed for him, for voice and string quartet, two violins, a viola and a cello. In Chile this version has not been made, so another of my great challenges is to sing this work with four musicians. 

As you can see, all my challenges are related to music.  Along with that I want to improve my grades, be consistent in the gym (this is so difficult for my hahahaha) to travel more, interact better with those around me.  I have another challenge very present, I want to start taking more music to places where there is no access to enjoy a concert.  I feel that my obligation as an artist of the Facultad de Artes of the Universidad of Chile is to generate community, so I am mentalized for do the social work that motivates me to be a better artist, daily.

Caribbean blue...

My best vacations were when I went to Punta Cana, Dominican Republic, in 2018.

It was a very nice experience because I was accompanied by my whole family.  My aunts, uncles, brother and parents. There were 10 people on the trip. It was so funny because there were some of my uncles who had not traveled in plane, so they didn't know places far away or out of the country, for them it was an experience.

The beaches in Punta Cana are wonderful, like a Kem island hahahaha.  On the day we were sunbathing, we went to the beach or to the pool, where there was an open bar, so you could imagine that it was very entertaining. 

In the night we were going to dinner at thematics restaurants, and after we went to the theater, where they presented a huge amount of shows, theatre plays, musicals, concerts and even karaoke. I sang so much in the karaoke.

We take tours in the capital of the Dominican Republic, Santo Domingo and also a distant island in the Caribbean Sea, called Isla Saona.

Although the weather there is extremely hot and humid, you have to stay constantly hydrated, obviously with beers and other refreshing drinks.

It can be quite expensive to pay the ticket and be in a hotel in the Caribbean, but I really recommend that if you can raise money for a while and you can give yourself a pleasure for a well-deserved vacation, to enjoy, eat good whatever you want, have fun, and enjoy the warm water of the Caribbean, do it.  It will be an experience you will never forget.

I’m in a New York State of mind

All my life I’d love visiting a special and magical place, New York, especially Broadway. I would like to be there because it must be extremely incredible to know the biggest theater circuit in the world, the Broadway circuit, which has forty theaters.

In addition to singing opera I am an amateur and lover of musical theater, in Broadway you can enjoy the most famous and acclaimed musicals in the world.

In New York there is also one of the most important opera houses in the world, the Met, which I also dream of meeting. Of course I would be full days going to theater plays, musicals, touring the circuit. I wish I could be see operas in the Metropolitan and who knows, maybe at some point in my life I can sing in this great theater.

In New York there are a lot of tourist attractions such as Times Square, the Empire State Building, the Statue of Liberty, Central Park and a huge number of museums and parks.

I would honestly like to visit New York alone. I think it would be a tremendous personal learning to travel and live this experience on my own. 

I recommend this place for the simple fact that nobody could get bored. New York has so many things, places and attractions that time could fly by without us noticing.

I love the Blogs!

I really liked being able to make these blogs.  It allows me to write certain aspects that I consider important and share them with my other classmates.  I can also remember certain personal moments.  In addition, writing in English helps me to generate a better understanding of the language and put it into practice in the future.

For example, writing about our pets, dreams or important aspects of our academic and university education, is a very good way of communicating, so we have the opportunity to express our opinions and feelings about the topics that I wrote previously.

Also, in this way I can remember how much I liked to write blogs.  When I was in school, I loved to write on my blog, like a diary of life, and coming back to that reminds me my school days.

With respect to the topics which I would like to write about, I think it might be interesting to add more personal opinions on deeper issues or current contingency.  Criticism about politic, social problems, religion, news, or opinions about public events that concern us as students and as Chileans. I think it would also be very useful to be able to talk more about aspects directly related to our appreciation of art in Chile and the world.

Música de Cámara!!

Since this year I have had the privilege of study a subject that I had personally been waiting for years and that is tremendously useful for my musical formation: Música de Cámara. This subject consists on forming an instrumental group, in my case vocal and instrumental, and performing some repertoire of our choice and with the teacher’s approval.

I have always dreamed of doing a musical piece for baritone soloist and baroque chamber group, the cantata 82 de J.S.  Bach. This year I gathered a group of instrumentalists who trusted in my work and decided to help me to do this musical piece .

We find an amazing teacher, the director Miguel Angel Castro, who was very motivated to do this work with us and has been a tremendous and wise guide for my group and especially for me, since he is a teacher with a lot of knowledge of the Baroque and especially of Bach's piece.

Bach's music is a real challenge, because it requires a lot of rehearsal, a lot of personal and group study, a correct guide and a very good assembly. Also, in Chile, there are not many expert teachers in baroque and less in Bach.  For these reasons I feel very fortunate to do this musical piece and be constantly congratulated by the teacher to be doing a good job. I think that  I'm understanding this piece of music and I feel it internalized in my vocal technique and my interpretation.!

Lana del Rey

Today I want to talk about my favorite music artist (outside of opera or classical music of course). Lana del Rey.

I had a hard time finding a popular favorite artist, I did was see my favorite lists of Spotify, I realized that what I hear the most is Lana, so that's why I choose her as my favorite singer hahahaha

I had the opportunity to meet her when she came to Lollapalooza, I found her a terrible singer and very out of tune in live, but her songs were absolutely beautiful and full of feeling and emotions.  So I decided to look for more songs and know more about her.

I was really surprised by the many albums, songs and how famous she is. Also, each of her songs expresses so much, for that reason I started to become a follower of her.

I realized that are so many important qualities that composers or musicians should have such as tuning, good lyrics, nice music and more complex and rupturist compositions , but not because they do not have some of these characteristics means they are bad  musicians  Lana is a great example of this, maybe she is not the great popular singer of the 21st century, but her music, lyrics and emotion are tremendous, that make her my favorite popular artist.

Lana en Lollapalooza 2018, Chile.