If you read "One Dad's Life" regularly, you know that we are pretty much an artsy fartsy family. Other than a somewhat unnatural obsession with Nintendo, Dr. Pepper, and the lawn, most of what we do has some artistic component.
Whether a child gets their interests and talents through genes or environment, our kids are probably doomed to follow in our footsteps. So it shouldn't be too surprising that our oldest daughter, Rebecca, also loves to perform. To date, this has largely manifested itself through dancing, performing in musicals and playing the violin.
However, this past week, an opportunity presented itself for Rebecca to audition for a singing job, doing vocals for a new series of Sunday School CDs from Concordia Publishing House (CPH) in St. Louis. If she was selected, it's possible she could sing for recordings over the next couple of years, for material that could be published for the next decade!
To be honest, I didn't even know she'd be interested in doing this, as she has always been excited about musicals and acting, but has not really talked much about doing any other type of performances. However, as soon as she got out of school on Monday, the first thing she asked about was whether we had been able to set up an audition time for her at the recording studio. Obviously, she was excited!
As it turns out, we had been able to arrange a time that fit into her normally busy schedule, but she had to quickly learn the material for an audition that same evening! So she sat on the floor of her bedroom with a laptop computer playing the tracks and reading the music off the screen. It was her job to sound as much like the previous recordings as possible. The spot had opened up because the previous batch of kids doing the recordings were now too old and didn't sound like kids anymore! Rebecca worked to sound like the recording, as much as possible.
Shortly after I got home from work, it was time to head to the audition so off we went.
We got to the studio and after an explanation of what was being looked for, she went into the vocal booth for her audition. They were looking for kids that could sing basically by sighte and blend with other singers - not the usual type of singing for musicals, but distinctly choral in nature. This is actually something Rebecca is very good at, and I thought that she did pretty good for just getting the material that day. More importantly, they seemed to like what she did at the studio, but it still had to be sent to CPH for the ultimate decision.
As we left the audition, Rebecca told me how much fun she had. She was so excited, and really enjoyed singing in the studio. Who knew? I really hoped she'd get a chance to try this again.
The first indication we got that she had a decent chance was when the studio contacted us the next day, inquiring about her availability during the next week. That was encouraging, but still, at this point, nothing was certain.
Then, Wednesday afternoon, the word came. They wanted Rebecca! Awesome! It's impossible at this point to know how much she will ultimately end up doing for this publisher, but judging from how long the last group of kids lasted, there is a chance it could last a while, if she does well. The important thing is that she has a chance. In fact, she will already be recording vocals for the first piece to be published, along with three other kids, this coming Monday! She is really looking forward to doing the recording, and is so happy to be lucky enough to be chosen for this project.
So, congratulations, Rebecca! I'm very proud of you! I know you'll do a great job.
Break a leg!
How cool! Congrats to Rebecca. Hopefully it's a great experience for her. Good job, Rebecca!
Posted by: Kelli | October 22, 2009 at 08:28 AM
That is awesome! Congratulations Rebecca!
Posted by: Robyns Online World | October 22, 2009 at 09:17 AM
Wow, that is fantastic! Congratulations!!!
Posted by: Jeannette | October 22, 2009 at 09:22 AM
Congratulations Rebecca, You are a multi-talented young lady, and we are very very proud of you! Woo Hoo!!
Posted by: Deb | October 22, 2009 at 09:31 AM
Rebecca, I am so proud of you. You have so many God given talents that you are using. Let's see, you are an artist, dancer, musician,scholar, and now a singer. Most important, you are God's child, also a caring and kind person. We are so proud of you. Grandma Mueller
Posted by: Grandma Mueller | October 22, 2009 at 09:50 AM
Congratulations Rebecca! I am very proud of you and pleased to see you use your God given talents and to focus your energy on such positive activities. You are a great example for others.
Posted by: Gregg's Dad | October 22, 2009 at 10:02 AM
That is so awesome! Congrats, Rebecca!
Posted by: KBO | October 22, 2009 at 12:54 PM
Congratulations Rebecca....how exciting!
Posted by: Marianne Richmond | October 22, 2009 at 07:08 PM
Congratulations Rebecca!! I'm so proud of you. You have a beautiful voice and I'm so glad you have this opportunity! Maybe I will have some of the recordings in my classroom one day!!
Aunt Kimmy
Posted by: Kim | October 22, 2009 at 10:06 PM
I'm so excited for you! How awesome to have this opportunity! I know you are a very talented young adult, from your Dad's blogs, and I'm bursting with joy to know you were selected. You are such a talent and I'm very very proud of you! I'll be anxiously waiting for more details. You rock! Aunt Linda
Posted by: Aunt Linda | October 24, 2009 at 08:33 AM