The After Math

Oh my goodness, it has been too long since I have updated this thing. My sincerest apologies. It is General Conference tomorrow for all of us Mo-Mos, wow.

Well, the past two months have been nuts for my career. I will try and give a brief synopsis of the going's on.
I sang for the naming ceremony of the new Covey Arts Center in Downtown Provo on the 22nd of August. It must have gone really well because they asked the pianist and I back to perform for the Opening Gala concerts and those were Wednesday night and last night, Thursday. It was VERY fun to get to perform at the Gala concerts! The pianist that I am performing withs name is Jennie Bangerter Larsen. We performed three numbers together: "O Mio Babbino Caro", "When I Fall in Love" and "Back to Before" from the musical Ragtime. It was so cool. Really. And of a truth, for the very first time in my life, I am beginning to actually ENJOY performing...what a concept. It is wonderful to not dread it anymore. Something has snapped inside of me and I am grateful for it.
There is also some HUGE news attached to this, and that is that
I AM GOING TO BE DOING MY VERY FIRST REAL GIG!!!!
It is going to be the day after Thanksgiving on Friday the 23rd of November of this year at the Covey Arts Center. Please Visit www.coveycenter.org
This is the opportunity of a lifetime for me, to put it very lightly. I have never done an ENTIRE concert, of just me in a REAL VENUE! It will actually be half me and half Jennie Larsen, the amazing pianist. The ticket prices will be $10-15. I hope that every one can come!!!

Why am I calling this post the "After Math?" Well, first of all, it is because the final Gala show was last night (it was an invitation only affair, very posh) and because all I do with the rest of my time is Math, but we can get into that later.
Let me tell you about the show.
Ahhh....it was delightful. First off, for Jennie and I being the opening number, the techies where still working out some of the bugs and forgot to turn my mic on, not only was it off actually, but it was on some kind of secret-stealth-mute-mode. It really was hilarious because Jennie and I were doing the song "Back to Before" and I had sung the phrase "There was a time...." and that was the point when I realized that there was no mic. The usual panic ensued and for what seemed like and eternity, 8,000 thoughts ran through my head ("Holy cow what am I going to do should I just ask them to restart should I say something funny should I just pretend that the mic is still working I don't want to fumble with it and look stupid HeavenlyFatherhelpmeplease") "OUR HAPPINESS SEEMED NEVER ENDING!!!" Ah-hah-hah-hah-hah!!! So, I was just like, "OKAY voice, it's just you and me." and I stepped away from the mic and sang that song the best I ever have. I felt like I was singing as if my life depended on it. It was an exhilarating experience, truly, and I would not have changed it for anything.
The highlight of the evening for me though, was to get to sing my original song "Pieta (Vincent's Last Prayer)" with the Utah Valley Symphony. I wrote the song about a year and a half ago and it was BEYOND surreal to perform the orchestrated version of it WITH an orchestra, LIVE. Surreal indeed.
It was wonderful, wonderful, wonderful. I really do love that place, The Covey Arts Center.
The opening of the Covey Center was covered in the Utah Valley Deseret News today, and there was a big picture of guess who (me!) in the article. Very cool. Random people are coming up to my Mother in grocery stores to tell her how amazing I did and ask her if she is proud of me.
She has no idea who these people are.
Ah, it's cool. I will give you more updates as the time for MY FIRST REAL CONCERT approaches!!! YAY!!!