A New Chapter: Nashville, Once Again

Life often moves in ways you wouldn't expect.

   It's been 10 months since my last update, and I sit in my office (a real one!) and reminisce on all the changes a year can bring. 

 Once again, I am in a new situation, the one I had hoped to be in several years ago. But, a journey  moves in strange and mysterious ways, and I am more thankful than ever to have my own little space to myself. Through the ups and downs, I have now come to find myself in sort of an ideal situation:

 I have my own little apartment, a job I love and that supports me as an artist, and a gaggle of incredible friends surrounding me. Of course, I've had these for awhile, but it's a wonder what therapy and SSRIs do for the brain of someone who apparently needs (like, seriously, NEEDS) them. The majority of my past year was lived with a former partner, and it wasn't until relatively recently that I've started to feel like myself again. 

​For now, I'd love to share some fun moments from my past year away. I hope you enjoy them!

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The Fall: Opera, Auditions, and New York

The lighted garland on a chilly November night. New York, New York

   Oh, the places life takes you! After starting my very first job in a nonprofit space, I was swept into a whirlwind of coordinating auditions, booking a school tour, and learning music for The Shining opera. 

​   I think the privilege of sitting on the other side of the old audition table taught me a lot of things. First, getting to hear our Director's thoughts as a young opera singer was invaluable. I learned so much about what goes on in an administrator's mind when they're listening to singers. My fellow emerging artists: they're looking at your website when they're looking down. Don't let it get to you! This also gave me the chance to be the change I wanted to see in the audition space. Kind messages, happy greetings, playful audition outfit pictures to celebrate our auditionees on the Instagram story...It was an opportunity to create a safe space for expression, and not a sinister room of judgement. Overwhelmingly, people sang with so much heart and dedication, it was an experience I don't think I'll be likely to forget. 

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The Winter: Snowstorms, Fanciulla del West, and Endings

My Mukluks in Boston during the Big Snow. Boston, MA

  The new year of 2026 was rung in in perhaps the strangest way yet-singing at a country show with an old country star, alongside a group of Elvis impersonators.  With the ending of 2025 being so unique, I knew that 2026 would be a year to remember. 

  In January, I got to photograph The Girl of the Golden West, a spaghetti western opera that included all of my male chorus friends in Nashville. 

The Boys. The chorus for the Nashville Opera's January 2026 production of The Girl of the Golden West. Nashville, TN.

  The final performance I wasn't able to attend, I was jetting off to my first audition of 2026 for the Seagle Festival! What was supposed to be a quick there-and-back weekend audition trip turned into a 5-day trek through 22-inch snow in a new city...I had a blast. My audition went wonderfully (I got it! I got it!) and I got to explore a beautiful place. From the pilgrimage to the Cop Slide, to the New England Aquarium, the entire trip was a much-needed reset for the brand new year. 

  Also; Lobster Rolls? Life-changing. James Hook & Co. was most likely the best decision I made on that trip.

  My final evening in Boston, after finding dinner I slipped and slid through the piles of snow, and happened upon a karaoke bar that was somehow open during this years' Snowmaggedon. Inside, I met a quirky crew of Kazakhs, Boston Natives, Aussies, and an Englishman. A tiny melting pot, all within a late-night karaoke bar. I opted to stay out entirely too late in favor of a new experience, and sang the night away with my new friends. The evening ended with us helping each other back to our hotel (which apparently was housing half of us, and crashing for a couple hours in my comfy bed before attempting the flight home for the final time. 

The Bell In Hand Tavern during the beginning of The Snow. Boston, MA

  Then, a bittersweet ending happened. Soon after my 28th birthday (which came and went in a haze), My partner of almost 1 year broke up with me, 2 weeks before our anniversary. Navigating a breakup (the first time I hadn't ended things) at the beginning of a 6 day a week school tour was...difficult. But, luckily, my friends and colleagues are wonderful, and I kept pursuing the changes I had begun before. I got on SSRIs, scheduled a surgery I have been aiming for for 11 years, and scheduled my first talk therapy appointment. 

  Life looks a bit different now, but instead of quite typing from a keyboard, my home is now filled with music, dancing, and lots of silly songs sung to my cat, Beef. 

  As my brain becomes more regulated, I've found my joy again. True happiness and contentment; my tea light of warmth has grown into a little fire, my chest a fireplace to keep it safe. Coffee with friends, singing to crowds, having gluten in my apartment...the rush of excitement from a date, with no worry about being pressured into a relationship, again. 

  This time, it's me, my cats, and my army of loved ones. I'm not alone. I've never been alone. 

  These days, my 28th year is looking quite bright. Thanks for sticking by me, Friend.
  I'm so glad you're here. 
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Flowers at Cheekwood. March 2026, Nashville, TN