Gratitude Practice 2022 Nov 12: Talented Young People With Big and Little Pipes Inside
This morning, a handful of family members gathered at the Libby Gardner Concert Hall to witness the endlessly talented Claire Robinson compete in The Metropolitan Opera vocal competition. According to the metopera.org website, "this annual competition is sponsored by the Metropolitan Opera National Council and draws the top echelon of young opera performers from across the country." This prestigious operatic throw down "began in 1954 and is designed to discover promising young opera singers and assist in the development of their careers." Who knew? While reading I learned, "many of today’s greatest singers got their start through this prestigious competition, including Renée Fleming, Susan Graham, Stephanie Blythe, Eric Owens, Lawrence Brownlee, Lisette Oropesa, Jamie Barton, Michael Fabiano, Anthony Roth Costanzo, Ryan Speedo Green, and Nadine Sierra." Claire Robinson is my niece, one of my all time favorite human beings, an endlessly talented young opera singer and she absolutely crushed it today winning the district level competition. Brava, Sweet Claire…Brava!
There is something truly breathtaking about witnessing a person in their element…not just doing their thing but truly excelling inside their profession and practiced skill set. It's not just watching them discover their personal power…but witnessing them expand inside of it. Today, as Claire stood so confidently and naturally on the stage singing beautiful words in a language I did not understand expressing emotions and feeling that everyone in the room clearly did, we witnessed her come alive…each note and each crescendo and each moody measure demonstrated a compelling amount of talent, poise, range, emotion, hard won skill and life. Claire singing on that stage was something I will not soon forget. She oozes with personality and independence and today she owned so much more than the stage of the beautiful concert hall…today, I got to witness her own her dreams as she unquestionably found her voice and claimed her space in the universe. And this twenty-five years old powerhouse is just getting started. By this afternoon, after the other 25 young singers had time to perform, it was clear to the skilled adjudicators (and not just her very proud and biased groupies) that Claire was the clear winner for her category and will now advance to the regional competition next March. And then if things continue in the same very promising direction…it's onto the biggest opera stages in NYC…The Met. Such an inspiring afternoon.
During the competition, I got to sit with my ever curious daughter and my equally precocious five-year-old great nephew, Lando. Like me, these two tiny humans don't know very much about the world of professional opera performance. But unlike me, this was their first trip to a large concert hall. With the expected amount of wiggles and through an endearing whispered conversation, Lando asked me if the large metal spears at the back of the room were real and if they could be moved. I smiled and explained how a pipe organ worked and that what looked like spears were actually pipes and part of a large instrument similar to a piano. Naturally, he asked a few more questions and I explained that large pipes create big low sounds and small pipes create high sounds and that when played together big powerful music comes out. Somewhat satisfied with my explanation, his questions to me stopped and the two tiny thinkers continued to whisper and discuss privately. A bit later, while Claire was knocking everyone out, Lando leaned over and whispered, "I didn't know that Aunt Claire had so many big and little pipes inside of her." BOOM!...and there you have it.
Grateful today for my darling niece, for her aspiring career and for the chance we had to watch her shine so so bright. Grateful for her good parents whose support and encouragement over the years have provided a master's class in parenting. Grateful for incredible music…most of which I don't fully understand but feel deeply and appreciate. Grateful for the curiosity of young children, for their keen minds and creative connection making ability and endless wisdom. Grateful for inspiring concert halls with big metal spears in the back of the room and all of the talented professionals who make the world more joyful. Grateful to spend some time with my family today...we were all scuba suit deep swimming with pride and swooning with love over one of our own. Grateful for my incredible nieces and nephews…all very different and all equally talented. Grateful to watch the children I cherished grow into adults I admire, respect and look up to. Grateful for their diversity and kindness and goodness and light. And grateful for the big and little pipes that somehow live inside each of us that just somehow when played together seem to make such big powerful beautiful music.
https://sopranoclaire.com/
https://www.metopera.org/about/auditions/competition/about-the-Laffont-Competition/