Finally, the day came for my husband to visit. I took the train to the airport so I could meet him there. I was so happy to see his face in front of me and not on a screen! We only had a short time together, but we managed to make the most of it. Of course, I had to take him to Lee so he could try the amazing food for himself. The next day, we went to a Blue Jays game and went up CN tower to see all of Toronto from a bird’s eye view. Being from LA (Go Dodgers), my husband was pleasantly surprised at how easy it was to get to the stadium on foot. In between being tourists, we watched the first two Spider-Man movies, which I had never seen. The original trilogy has been on our watch list since we saw Spider Man: No Way Home. I loved them, although I was glad Steven had seen them already so he could warn me when a particularly horror movie-esque moment was approaching. One of things I was most looking forward to during his stay was going out for meals with my musician friends. Those of you who have ever had a long-distance partner know that experiencing new things and building new friendships can feel melancholy and incomplete without them. Talking on the phone about it is nothing compared to how wonderful it feels to share it with them in person. ​

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Of course the weekend had to come to an end, so I said goodbye to Steven at the train station and delved into the next week. I was proud of myself this week because I finally addressed the health concerns that had been causing me anxiety since I arrived in Toronto. Dealing with new medical clinics and new insurance in a new place can be difficult, and health anxiety mixed with grief due to the sudden loss of a loved one is no joke. After some scheduling snafus and grumbling about insurance being unnecessarily complicated, I was able to get a prescription at a walk-in clinic that helped me quickly. It was relieving to have some answers, and empowering to know I did it on my own. ​

Back at the studio, the band continued to chip away at our cover sets, working in some new genres. We also got to watch run-throughs of most of the other shows, which is always exciting! I enjoy watching all of the other incredible performers shine.

We took advantage of our last free weekend in Toronto by taking a train and then a bus to Niagara Falls. Bucket list item, check ✅ We admired the falls from the top and had lunch with an incredible view before going down to the base to take in all their majesty. Despite the sea of tourists in yellow ponchos, it was lovely - and quite loud! The most interesting part to me   was the dichotomy between this natural wonder of the world and all of the attractions just down the street from it. After seeing the falls, we walked toward Clifton Hill, which is a long, sloping street somewhat reminiscent of Hollywood Boulevard. It is loud, colorful, and a bit dirty, with every cheap attraction you could imagine. The three of us bought fun passes for the day and had a BLAST doing everything that was included: ferris wheel, dinosaur mini golf, arcade games, “rides” (two of them 3D movie screens, one a low-budget cross between Haunted Mansion and Astro Blasters), and a horrendously amazing wax museum. We finished out the day perfectly with beers at Niagara Brewing. ​

Week 3 was our last week with our music team before they headed home. The next time we see them will be on the ship in Germany. We continued working on our show material and also started putting together some cover band music to play as a group. It can be a little spooky to go into a new musical situation with people you've never collaborated with before, but so far we work extremely well together, which is a good sign for how we'll continue to work together on board. We also got to watch runs of two of the other shows, and they were phenomenal. I honestly got emotional picturing them in full production and imagining guests' reactions. One of the days this week we had our weekly PCR testing in the morning and then a long break until rehearsal in the afternoon, so our guitarist Dave took us to Fran's for breakfast. This diner is right across from the iconic Massey Hall, so of course we had to grab a picture. ​

Our last day with our music team was also our last day with Dave, so we celebrated with some donuts that Clay brought in to share with everyone. Going into Week 4, we kept working on our cover and solo material, rehearsed our show music a few times, and did a lot more safety training classes. In our off time, we went back to our favorite ramen place, visited the Art Gallery of Toronto, and simply hung out and had drinks together (and I finally had some poutine that wasn't from Wendy's). These have been some of my favorite experiences here so far, connecting with the people I'll be spending most of my time on board with and exploring a new place together. ​

On a more personal note, I've been working on taking better care of myself these past few weeks. I was on such a high during our first week that I started to crash once we got used to our routine. I didn't become aware of it until we started working on cover material as a group and I started singing some high-intensity songs after not singing very often for two weeks. Singing felt more effortful for me than usual, and I was consistently tired. I started to slow down and think about why that could be happening. In the short term, my body had just gone through a lot of change with traveling, a new schedule, and more eating and drinking that came with being social. Thinking more broadly though, the past year of my life has been full of big changes and painful losses. My tolerance for resilience has definitely been tested. I'm most prone to anxiety spiraling any time I am not distracted by other things, which is typically when I'm driving or in bed before falling asleep. As a result, my relationship with sleep has suffered this year, and sometimes I will keep myself up well past when my body signals a need for rest in fear of intrusive thoughts. Cue having a space all to myself for the first time in a while and... you see where this is going. I've been working on slowing down and being gentler with myself in ways that are realistic for me. For example, being more mindful about what I eat or drink - not necessarily avoiding "junk" altogether but perhaps avoiding ordering a second cup of coffee on an empty stomach. Getting ready for bed earlier, and giving myself permission to take a nap the next day when I don't. Adhering to the boundaries I set for myself regarding social media (this one is the toughest for me). Making sure I set aside time to get a solid vocal warm-up in. And most importantly, being more mindful in general of how I'm feeling and recognizing the stories I tell myself. I don't nail all of this every day, but I feel better as the days go on. My voice feels freer and I feel good knowing I can show up and do my best. 

In my free time I've been doing a ton of walking around the city, mainly whenever I've needed to go shopping but also just to get my body moving. When I'm not outside, I've been enjoying cooking for myself and rekindling my love for some of my interests. I spent hours on Animal Crossing this past Sunday after not playing for months and it took me right back to Summer 2020. I've also been spending a lot of time going through my wedding photos which we received a few weeks ago and organizing them into albums. My only way of connecting with others over the photos so far has been sending links to family and posting on social media, so I'm looking forward to looking through them with my husband... when he gets here this weekend! As much as I'm proud of us for being pros at the long distance thing, it's always difficult. I cannot wait to give him a hug in person and show him around my temporary new home. 

My experience here so far has been both rewarding and healing. Putting all the skills I've learned to the test in this gig and realizing how much I benefit from them is rewarding. Feeling free to be myself with new people and reflecting on how much I've grown is healing. I'm especially grateful for how kind everyone has been here. It's an honor to be part of a team like this and I have to pinch myself daily to remember that it's real. ​

My journey started last Monday, March 7, in the wee small hours of the morning. My husband woke up with me at 3:30 am to take me to LAX for my 7:30 am departure. While we've done the long distance thing before, it's been a while since we've had to, and lurching towards the airline terminal took me right back to our airport drop-offs in college. As excited as I was to head to Toronto, saying goodbye was definitely the hardest part, especially since we weren't sure if and how often he'd be able to visit. We just booked him a trip to Toronto for a few days in April, so I'm looking forward to showing him around my new city. ​

The rest of my week consisted of lots of rehearsing, getting to know the other musicians better (including regular coffee runs after lunch), cooking for myself, more online classes, unpacking and settling in, exploring the streets near my apartment, editing TikToks, and enjoying the snow! Saturday was the first day putting our show together with the rest of the cast of singers, actors and dancers. All of the people here are friendly and welcoming, and top-notch professionals to boot. There were a few times while we were rehearsing that I felt more like myself than I have in a while. ​

Saturday night we went to a bar (remember doing that?) and Sunday night we went out for some delicious ramen which was perfect for the cold weather. We kicked off week 2 of rehearsal yesterday with a full run of our show for the creative team and an audience of cast members from the other productions. The energy in the room was electric. I can't wait to perform it for the guests on board!

Hello fellow music lovers! It has been quite a while... I thought I'd use this unexpected down time to create a video on one of my most favorite topics... the voices of the Disney Princesses! This is a video I created for My Music Match, a company I teach with that matches students with teachers based on their preferences, goals, and budget! In this video, I break down how to practice these songs, giving you some exercises to try for different concepts. I also go through a timeline of the vocal sounds of all the princesses, from Snow White to Moana. I've created a Spotify playlist to go along with it, so feel free to pause the video as you go along and play the tracks to hear the concepts in action.

 Hello and welcome! I'm ~finally~ adding some content to my blog! I thought I'd get started with a fun game I came up with to play with voice and piano students alike. Younger kids love it, and it gets them up and moving, all while tricking them into practicing ear training! And it's easily adaptable to any skill level. What's not to love?

I can't take full credit for this game, as I was so inspired by the resources at The Full Voice. I printed the tonic sol-fa wall cards (found here towards the bottom of the page) and laminated them for use with my students. These are what I use for the game! The main product from The Full Voice are the workbooks written by Nikki Loney and Mim Adams, which I have found incredibly helpful in my lessons, especially with singers who have never studied music via another instrument before.  They incorporate theory, technique, and ear-training all in one. Additionally, there's a Facebook group and a podcast with invaluable information for anyone who teaches children how to sing. If you have kids in your voice studio, I urge you to utilize these resources and invest in their products!

Okay, now that we're past the infomercial (not at all sponsored, by the way), here's the game: Solfege Hopscotch!

How does it work? ​

Place the solfege cards on the ground, in order. You stand on one side, and your student stands on the other. Then take turns jumping between intervals! I'll instruct my student to jump from one note to another, and sing the interval with them. Everything from how many cards you place on the floor, to the intervals you ask your student to jump to, to whether or not you sing with them, can be adjusted based on where they're at. I'll start with just Do, Re, and Mi on the floor, and only have them jump between one at a time, then I'll have them jump thirds between Do and Mi, then next time I'll add Fa and So into the mix... I'll start asking them to identify the interval (can they tell me that Do to Fa is a fourth?), then I'll have them do it a couple times without me singing to see if they can hear the intervals all on their own. Eventually we'll work up to having the whole scale on the floor! Their favorite part is when they get to instruct me which notes to jump between, but be warned - the sneaky kids will just make you jump octaves over and over! 

And there you have it. Give me a shout in the comments if you end up trying this with your own students, or if you come up with your own spin on it - I'd love to hear from you!

❤️ 🎶,

Alex