...and I've been busy!

My last update, in May, had lots of big plans. Over the summer, in between vacations, I've been busy executing on those plans!

Church & chant

First up: As of July 1, I'm officially the primary staff alto at Blessed Sacrament Catholic Church in Seattle!

(L) Selfie after my audition on a rainy May day; (M) The church itself (photos by Jaquilyn Shumate); (R) Subbing there before I was officially hired.

This means I'll be singing mass ... a lot. :) Beginning Sept. 17 (and occasional Sundays and feast days before then), you'll find me there every week, singing a 9 AM mass with the parish choir, and then a noon mass with the rest of the staff octet (the "Cantorei"). Once a month, I'll also be cantoring* 5:30 PM masses on both Saturdays and Sundays. [*= lead chant-er]

Fun fact: I learned to read Gregorian chant notation for this audition. You know those old illuminated manuscripts full of lines and squares that monks somehow sang from? Turns out, people still do! And now I (more or less) am among that number! (Shout-out to Sister Mary Demetria, author of this 100-page primer from 1960, and whoever later digitized it!) The masses at Blessed Sacrament will be a good mix of polyphony and old-skool chant, so there should be something for everyone.

The Cantorei will also be doing standalone (i.e. non-mass-attached) concerts throughout the year. The first one is "Music for Twilight," to be held on Sept. 8 at 7:30 PM (details here). I'm also excited about our plans to present Handel's Messiah (deets) this December -- yours truly will be doing some fiery alto solos! These are both posted on my calendar, which I'll endeavor to keep up to date as season dates for this and more ensembles start to solidify.

Speaking of fiery alto solos...

I made some videos! While I've been happy with my website, it's previously been just a little ironic that I have all these pages talking about my singing, but none actually demonstrating it. To rectify that, there are now 4 videos on my recordings page. They're a good mix:

• But Who May Abide the Day of His Coming -- an alto aria from Handel's Messiah (it starts slow but gets fast around the 1:55 mark)

• An Evening Hymn by Purcell, if you prefer something slower and sweeter and less brimstone-y

• Se Tu M'Ami, an Italian ditty with such gems as "as for me, I won't follow men's advice -- just because the lily pleases me doesn't mean I should hate other flowers."

• Summertime -- the classic.

If you've been in the camp of "Nori, quitting your tech job and pursuing music sounds great and all, but do you actually have any experience singing?", hopefully these videos should answer that question for you (and even more hopefully, in the affirmative 🤪).

Up next: More concert info

I think that's plenty for the summer! Next month, I'll send some more info about the ensembles I'll be singing with during the upcoming season, and the planned concerts. (Sneak peak: I'll still be with Harmonia, who's always super on top of announcing their whole season.)

Until then, I'm posting occasionally on Instagram, and practicing. Be well, and thanks for reading! It's great to know that you're all out there and interested to hear about my new career. :)

-Nori