This past week I was lucky enough to be a quarter-finalist at the American Traditions Competition in Savannah, GA. I have friends who have done this competition before, and they all had the same things to say about how wonderful and nurturing and inspiring an environment it is. You know when I hear a bunch of people say something like that, a little part of me says "Yeah, right. I'm sure it's sooooo wonderful." Well, I'm here to say, it really is what everyone before me said it was.

First, the competition. I sang in the first group of quarter-finalists. I started with my Johnny Mercer song, Charade, from the movie of the same name (and a GREAT movie, especially if you are home sick from school). Then I sang Kala Kalla from Eric Whitacre's Five Hebrew Love Songs and finished out with The Trees on the Mountains from Susannah. I felt great about my singing, and immediately went out to watch the rest of the competitors. I have to say, I was blown away by the competition. Everyone was so involved in their singing, and there was a whole lot of incredible technique up on that stage. By the end of the two days of quarter-final auditions, I felt like I would love to go on to the next round, but I wouldn't be surprised if I didn't, based on the amount of talent and artistry I saw. As it turns out, I didn't make it to the next round. But that didn't mean my experience at the competition was over.

Once I knew I wasn't going on, I corralled some friends to go out for a drink. We had been on such good singer behavior the past couple of months, we definitely earned a night out. We went down to Riverstreet in Savannah and found a place doing karaoke. My friend Kate sang one of her competition songs at karaoke and got a standing ovation. I butchered a Christina Aguilera song and enjoyed every second of it. That's the great thing about karaoke: everyone's a winner :)

The rest of the week was divided between watching the next rounds of the auditions, eating delicious food, much of it Southern, and meeting and connecting with incredible musicians. The judges for the contest were top notch, and we had the opportunity to speak with them one on one for comments. It was so inspiring, as well as a little overwhelming. When I finished talking to the judges I thought, "Great, so you just need to work harder. Waaaaiiiit a minute...I thought I was working hard!". But it was more inspiring that anything else, and I definitely feel like I have a new plan of action in my career based on my experiences in Savannah.

I was incredibly lucky to be able to sing in a masterclass for Liz Callaway, the voice of Anastasia (one of my favorite movies!) and Amanda McBroom, who wrote the incredibly famous song "The Rose" among many others. I performed Much More from The Fantasticks for them, and Liz basically said it was nice but the same as every other performance. Just for the record, I don't sing a lot of musical theatre, so I was pretty excited just to have nailed a "same as everyone else" performance! She talked me through a few things, and then asked me to do it slower, darker, and completely different. One of the things that Amanda McBroom had mentioned to me in my one on one with her was not to be safe, so I decided just to go for it. It was incredible! Both artists seemed pleased with the difference, and I felt all of a sudden like I had all of this freedom to break out of the box of how I've heard others perform songs.

The two biggest highlights of the week were performing for two schools with several other singers, and the judges concert. The school shows were early and in horrible class rooms like they always are, but we got to sing with the incredible Joel Martin, director of the competition, amazing musician, and all around fabulous guy. That alone was worth it. But as our treat for getting up early to go sing at schools, we got to go to the sound checks of Liz and Amanda for their concert that night. It was really interesting to watch them, so different in many ways, as they did sound check and interacted with Joel. They were both so gracious to us "kids", asking our opinions on where they stood and how the sound was. Then, that night, they had their concert. I've never had so many emotions wanting to burst out of me at one time in my life. They were so incredible. From the jokes they told between numbers, to the songs they chose, to the way they paced the music, and of course their voices, it was absolutely amazing. I left with a new found appreciation for what I want to do artistically in my life, but also for who I want to be as a person.

My week in Savannah was truly a life changing experience. Hopefully I'll be back on this blog soon to tell you about my new life!!!!