Hey all,
My final exam of the year is over and I will soon be heading back to Nelson for the summer! Very excited about it! Feels like a lifetime since I’ve been home even though it’s only been nine weeks. I’ve worked extra hard this semester, especially since I had time off from uni when I travelled to America, and I’m hoping the work will pay off when I get my final grades back.
Just in case you’re wondering – I do have two more years of university before I’m finished!
I’ll graduate in 2018 with a Bachelor of Music majoring in Composition and a Bachelor of Arts majoring in French. My current plans involve spending one of my remaining two years studying on exchange in Canada, but more about that at a later date ;) In Nelson I’m looking forward to spending time with my family, doing some gigs and going on some more hiking trips and getting back to this amazing scenery. Although the snow may be gone by now! Photo credit: LifeformLabs.
It’s been about a month since I returned from my trip to Las Vegas where I competed with Greater Auckland Chorus at the Sweet Adelines International Convention! The chorus achieved a score improved by 120 points since they last competed internationally and improved their world ranking by one place so overall it was a very successful experience.
I spent 9 days there and witnessed some truly incredible performances – the highlights being the days of the quartet and chorus finals. I did have a bad case of the flu for the majority of the trip unfortunately so I was holed up in the hotel most of the time! I didn’t let it ruin the trip though and I’m so stoked I got to go and have my first international convention experience with Greater Auckland Chorus this year. Bring on the next one!! In the meantime check out the little gallery below with some great shots which captured the fun memories of us having a blast on stage! Thanks to Read Photography.
A massive thanks again to everyone who helped me get to America! Your contributions are the reason I was able to make it over there and I am so grateful for that! The ladies of Nelson Bays Harmony Chorus in particular were a big help in getting me to Vegas – and of course my Mum, who is my biggest supporter, was the mastermind behind the major fundraising event we held. Mums are the best!
My most recent barbershop experience was doing a gig earlier this month with Molto! Quartet – the 2015 Sweet Adelines NZ champion quartet who also competed in Vegas! I was their replacement tenor as theirs is currently overseas. It was a great performance opportunity for me and good experience singing with different voices in a quartet! My own quartet ZEAL Quartet is competing for the first time at the NZ National Convention in 2016 in Wellington in May and also at the Under-25 Rising Star Quartet Contest in July in Auckland! Very exciting times – lots of hard work ahead!
I know I say this every time but I will endeavour to actually do a blog post at least once a month from now on. So much stuff is going on in my life and it’s quite nice to be able to write it all down and fully appreciate the awesome things I get to be a part of! I’m going to make the most of this summer to be productive and get some exciting projects underway. More updates to come :)
Thanks for reading!
Until next time,
Jessie Xx
