Tomorrow I leave my relatively peaceful existence in Lincoln to fly to the crazy bustling island of Manhattan where I will once again be taken completely out of my comfort zone at the Metropolitan Opera.  I think this is my fifth year to participate in this adventure (but who’s counting?) and I look forward to seeing familiar faces in now familiar surroundings.

Would I live there?  I wouldn’t mind living within an hour or so of it. I’m pretty sure I couldn’t afford to live there but it is such an exciting place to visit. Besides the training I receive, I will be entertained by some of the greatest voices in the world, both at the Met and on Broadway.  What could be better?  Every time I walk up the steps to the Lincoln Center, I grin all over myself, seeing the fountain and the familiar arches of the opera house itself.  Who am I to be so lucky?

So, you know why I have this opportunity?  Someone asked and I said yes.  It was that simple.  But how many times has someone asked me to go on some adventure, small or large and my fear persuaded me to say no instead?  How many amazing experiences have I missed because of fear?  I use the excuse that “I like what I like”, but the truth is I like what I know.  It’s so much easier that way isn’t it?

But the thing that persuaded me, besides just the opportunity to go to New York was the opportunity to study with some of the greatest people in the business and well, I’m all about learning.  And just when I think, it can’t get any better, it does.  So what do I do with this experience?  I come home to my little town of Lincoln and share it with my students.  I describe the sights and sounds, the pictures and what I learned.  I do my best to get them excited about a genre that no child thinks they can get excited about and by some miracle they usually do get excited.

I’ve learned that opera tells stories of people; their trials and tribulations, grief and joy, anger and peace.  It brings stories to life that are still relevant today, even though the music and text may have been written generations ago in another culture, another time and another language.  All it takes is time to share the story with others and they too feel the connection.

So very early tomorrow, I hop a flight to the great island of Manhattan, to learn more stories to share.  Smoke on your pipe and put that in!