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July 14th, 2023

July 14th. Friday the 14th. Not Friday the 13th. A lucky day by default.

I have finally gotten around to logging onto this website and doing a little refresh, updating my resume, and sharing some thoughts with you. There are so many things I want to do, but always so many excuses not to do them.

It's been such a wonderful year so far. I cannot believe that it's over halfway through. The days are just whirring by.. they all go so fast. Thinking back to when I last posted, I feel no less lucky to be alive and lucky to be living the life I am living. I am blessed.

Since I last logged, some singer colleagues and I started an opera company. For real. We did that. It's been awesome and scary all at once. Our debut event was very well received and it made us all feel really affirmed about starting this group in Rochester. We've done some things with the opera group since then like a summer festival event, an opera workshop, and several Salons. We are building our experience and our name, slowly but surely.

I also was lucky enough to get to sing a killer role in a show called Masterclass at Rochester Repertory Theatre. Pinch me, I'm dreaming.

I am also doing vocals for a big band in Rochester called Notochords that plays old jazz standards from the 20's-50's... SO FUN. We perform around Rochester and in our neighboring communities. I'm singing songs like Sway, Fever, A Foggy Day, They Can't Take That Away, Feelin' Good, Lover Come Back, and many more.

Work remains to be challenging and exciting. There is always some new way to learn or grow. Being in the healthcare field in Rochester is like playing with an olympic team. People have high expectations! You are in a medical community amongst professionals that are leaders in their fields. It's both awesome and scary, but the people in this town are so amazing, and they are caring and compassionate at their core. It's so cool.

Another REALLY fun thing that I got to do a few months back was a "Rochester's Got Talent" competition with Rochester Pop's Orchestra. There were 12 of us that got to prepare and perform a song of our choosing. I sang "I Dreamed a Dream" from Les Miserables. I have such happy memories of that night and those few minutes. Everything went so well about the event, and it seemed that the audience really loved it.

Well, those are some of the highlights from over the past 6 months. There have been many more, but I'm just sticking to the big ones.

Thanks for reading this far and if you have ever come to any of my shows, thank you. I feel like one of God's purposes for my life is to share my gift, so by receiving that you are helping me fulfill my purpose. Thank you.

Now, it's onto this last piece of sushi (a Friday night tradition) and seeing what other things I can chip away at this evening.

To life, to love, to weekends.

LOVE,

Kate

September 17th, 2022

How is it over halfway through September already? Well, fall is here and it's time to bust out all the sweaters. Yaaay. I just had a birthday recently so I've been doing a lot of thinking and journaling about what I want to do this year. It's almost like New Year's a second time around. Sort of a chance to reassess some things instead of just coasting along through the day to day.

I decided this year I would put my efforts toward learning some more Mozart in hopes of doing an album when the music is ready. Singing Mozart is many things... it's challenging no doubt, but it's also very gratifying. It's always been some of my favorite repertoire to sing, ever since I learned "Deh vieni non tardar" as a college student. Dusted that one off recently. What a beautiful aria.

I'm going to be leading a table community at Echo Church on Julia Cameron's book "The Artist's Way". I can't wait to start it again. The book sort of turned my world upside down the first time I went through it. It really helped me stop being such a perfectionist about singing and performing, and exposed some of the hang ups I had that were keeping me stuck. The book is intended to "unblock" you as an artist, and help you let go of the false perceptions you might have about creativity. It's just a really cool book and I'm excited to walk through it again with others.

I'm also starting as a jazz vocalist with the Notochords, a jazz band here in Rochester, so I've been learning lots of new tunes to sing. Some are old standards that I've sung with other groups or during my undergrad program, and some are brand new so I'm learning them for the first time. There are so many great jazz songs and arrangements that I am just now checking out. It's been exciting to dive back into that style, and I'm looking forward to challenging myself as a vocalist.

Other than working on putting together new repertoire, I have some ideas in the mix to find other opera lovers to collaborate on some projects I am dreaming up.

To art. To music. To doing the thing!

LOVE.

Kate :)

Kate Rogers Soprano