Don't worry I won't scare you with the whole "birds and bees" thing, by now I would hope you understand how all that works! I really just wanted to see this photo of my parents on their wedding day. Can you believe they were married at the sweet ages of 16 and 18? I can't even begin to imagine what that must have been like. Although at 16 I was living quite a different life to the one I expected.Okay, so where to begin?
With music of course! That's been the defining factor from the start. My grandfather made instruments out of cricket bats, my mum played the accordian, my brother plays every guitar he can lay his hands on, none of them had training it was just in them.
Like alot of English kids I sang in the local church choir. Without realizing it I had started on my path.
So after a few years of choral singing and some pretty awful school report cards, my parents decided to let me try out for a school they knew I'd pay attention in.
Drama School! I auditioned and was accepted. Bliss! So at 13 my days were filled with acting, tap dancing, ballet, vocal lessons, auditions in London, oh, and math, english, science blah, blah, blah.
Then just as I thought it couldn't get any better, my world turned upside down.
My mum was diagnosed with breast cancer, she had 2 years of surgeries, chemo and therapy but it wasn't enough. Two days after she died, my dad decided that he had lived 2 days longer than he wanted to. So at 16 I was on my own.
So what now? Music of course....
I worked as a studio singer in London, sleeping on friends floors and not really minding all that much. So I went from choral to pop to jazz to jingles, I sang it all. Subsidizing with nanny jobs and waitressing. After a while I decided it was time to start fresh.
I had the option of working as a nanny in Brazil, Australia or California. I really didn't want to learn Portugese or sit on a plane for 36 hours, so "California here I come!"
I worked for a family with 4 children, aged 10, 9, 5 and 2.
I pride myself in introducing them to Queen, great memories of dancing to Bohemian rhapsody (full blast) until one of them spotted their mom coming home, that's when the music stopped and the homework began ;o)
After I married Sean, and we had our 2 beautiful children, life was great!
We moved from the Bay area CA, to Reno NV, to Evansville, IN where I just happened to hear a radio commercial for the Evansville Philharmonic Chorus it had been a while since I'd sung.
I couldn't do that again, could I? Well why not? The children could do without me 1 night a week, and I needed it, I was starting to ache without music.
I had 4 fun seasons singing with them before moving to Cleveland.
Thank God I was ignorant enough of American orchestras to not realize what a big deal the Cleveland Orchestra was, if I knew I probably would have psyched myself out of auditioning.
Well I'm now going into my 6th season, and am thrilled every time I step on that stage.
So life didn't go exactly how I expected it, but what does?
That's how I got here....Music chose my path for me!
