Environmental Alignment

There’s so much going these days that it’s time for another update post!

After the success of The Time of Our Singing, at La Monnaie in Brussels, which ended its run in late September 2021,  I turned my attention to The Academy for the Performing Arts at the University of Trinidad and Tobago, where I’ve been Director for the last six years.  It’s always challenging to transition out of a long production inside the theatrical “bubble” back into academia, but this time it was particularly difficult because, for the first time in 18 months, I was flying to Trinidad from Europe, where I’d been stranded in the early pandemic lockdown.  

Despite a mild bout of culture (and humidity) shock, I’ve been REALLY happy to be in the Caribbean for winter – 32 degrees Celsius for Christmas is nothing to complain about! And yet, soon after my arrival, I remembered how difficult I’ve often found it to study scores in an island environment.  I’ll never forget the weird experience I once had learning Schumann and Chopin at the beach, swinging in a hammock under a coconut tree!  It sounds like paradise, but it was slow going with the heat and the acoustic distractions.  Knowing how much study is lined up for 2022, I realised that I was going to have to do something fast to ensure that I would get adequate traction when I hit the gas.

So, I moved…

into a lovely apartment on the west coast where, despite the limitations the pandemic has placed on going to the gym, I would have alternative ways of staying fit – a lovely pool, and a jogging/walking circuit around the compound.  Operatic conducting in particular can be very demanding physically, so I usually go into some form of fitness training months in advance of a new production.

The other training regime is, of course, for the brain – the score study itself –  which is supported in this new location by lots of natural light, central air conditioning and very quiet neighbours! In fact they’re so silent, I’m a little worried about what’ll happen when I get into the phase where I start to learn (and therefore sing) all the roles in my next opera project…  But more on that in the next post!

At the end of the day, I think it’s important to invest time, energy and yes, sometimes money in getting properly “aligned” before applying effort, and for the moment, as far as that’s concerned, I’m happy!