diamond in the rough

Hi Family. For all that we have missed the past several weeks, Cat and I are both very sorry. Calls to family for Birthday wishes, sisters I didn't get to talk to on Mother's Day, other events we may not have recognized we are sorry for missing out on. Things have been hectic as our summer plans have changed slightly, but more on that in a minute.

On May 11th I(Patrick) drove three hours north to a small riverport town in NY state called Hudson. There I spent the next week rehearsing and performing a one act opera for Diamond Opera Theatre. I was not initially looking forward to it as I had not really spent enough time on the Opera and wasn't fully prepared going into rehearsals. I spent 12 hours the day before I left memorizing the 98 page opera and, luckily, it stuck. I arrived in Hudson in the evening and was instructed to meet the cast, director, and others at the theatre. The theatre is on a street which paralleled the Hudson river, right across from the train station. The theatre, as it turned out, started it's life as a Foundry, then it was a glue factory (not horse, but rabbit), and now has been turned into Hudson's epicentre of fine arts(minus a parking lot and proper facilities).

It didn't look like much from the outside, but it turned out to be a great space for performing .
After the first two days, Cat took the train up and joined me. My schedule lightened up a bit and we were able to explore. We discovered the the town was really dying until about 7 years ago. With such a convenient train station, it's attracting couples from the city and the place is in the process of coming alive again. We found several amazing places to eat with fresh, wonderful , locally grown and raised ingredients. We visited the Company director's wine shop in the neighboring town of East Chatham, and we discovered American History in a form we had not experienced ourselves before. We stayed at a beautiful bed and Breakfast, the house was a little more than a century old, and had every comfort you would expect in a near-palace. The owners were an amazing pair. In the 80's they were members of a pretty successful band who toured with the B-52's. They lived in Hollywood for a time and worked in entertainment. Dini, who cooks an amazing breakfast, is close friends with Kate Pearson, the female singer in the B-52's. The stories he had were colorful and great. They were a welcoming and very fun couple.
We visited the 7-booth large Farmer's market and immediately made the mistake of buying local cheese from a gentleman who hadn't quite mastered his craft yet. The sharp cheddar he was "still working on" tasted of body odor. And there must be more churches per capita in Hudson than in any other city. No matter where you are the town, you are within 100 feet of a church. This picture shows part of City hall and yes, a church, in the background. This Catholic church shares the same block with the local Presbetyrian church.
Needless to say, we enjoyed ourselves thoroughly. The performances came around 5 days into the trip. I enjoyed working with the two others in the cast, though it was an interesting mix of personalities between the three of us. I'm convinced I'm the only conservative in all of Opera. These are just a few stills from the recording, which I'll have up on Youtube as soon as I am able.
We had a great time, it was wonderful and I got a great review, "Tenor Patrick Layton... has a vibrant lyric tenor voice that complimented... and made its own telling points with his brilliant top." John Paul Keeler, Hudson-catskill papers. The people were wonderful, and I'll look forward to returning there soon for a recital which is going to be planned for the fall.

Okay, as for this summer here are the plans. Cat is flying back to CA in Mid-June. She'll be taking two courses and working for her cousin. I will not be with her as I've been offered two covers and 4 concerts with Opera New Jersey this summer. It's a great opportunity to fatten my resume and schmooze with a few companies. I will be flying out the last weekend in June for 4 days but, unfortunately wont be able to stay for the 4th of July. I hoping to get a round of golf in with Dad and ...?, and some swimming with whom ever I may find still in CA.

We love you guys, and we will continue to try to keep in touch. The blogs have been great and I hope I'll get to see you all in CA on that weekend.

-pat and cat-

Atlantic City and the MET, a scatter-brained blog

Hi family. Sorry we've been out of touch for what seems like a very eventful several weeks. Shane, Happy Birthday! Kevin, Congratulations on your first communion! The Chicago clan looks GREAT! It was really good to see the CA contingent, even given the circumstances. We are doing alright here, trying to solidy plans for the summer.
Speaking of the summer, so many things have come up. Cat (who is doing really well) will definitely be spending the bulk of the summer back in California, working for her cousin and taking a couple of classes she can't get here. We're working out whether or not I will be here in NJ, or there in CA. I recently had an audition for the Metropolitan Opera chorus. It was by invitation only, there were 11 of us there. It was a good experience, and I'm sure you wont be seeing me on that stage anytime soon, but I'll keep you posted if something miraculous happens. I've also been offered a Studio Artist position with Opera New Jersey for the summer, covering two roles and performing in concerts, masterclasses, as well as singing in chorus. And also I've been in touch with old contacts from California who would welcome me for the summer with open arms. Needless to say, there's a lot to work out in the next couple of weeks. On Sunday I travel north to Hudson, NY where I will spend the week doing 6 performances of a one act opera called Red Carnations. It's a small company, but they pay well and they're putting me up for the week. I'm hoping to get a good review and will certainly post it if that happens.
To treat ourselves, Cat and I spent the day in Atlantic City last week. It was suprisingly fun. It's like a little slice of Las Vegas (the good and the bad), with the exception that you could not find a 5 dollar table. They have a massive outlet mall and Cat and I spent the day mostly window shopping. Though Cat managed to find a few steals at the Coach outlet, while I spent my time looking at shoes. For dinner we made reservations at Bobby Flay Steak. He is one of our favorite chefs, and we were thrilled to have the opportunity to taste his food. There was a lobster bar with lobsters on display that were the size of VW Beetles. Cat and I both had American Kobe strip steaks. We both agreed we had never had a meal as remarkable as this one. Everything was amazing.
We finished the night gambling our small budget away, and both agreed it was a great time.
Cat's doing great. She's so amazing, and very strong. She continues to be a source of strength for her family, and I relish the role of husband, being there for her in any way I can. She was able to finish her semester and, while she didn't make dean's list, she came away relatively unscathed and still in the running for a great Master's program after her undergrad. Vocally she's becoming a remarkable young mezzo, and will more than likely being starring in future productions at Westminster Choir College.
We're thinking of our family, we love you guys and miss you. We hope for nothing less than the best for you, and we hope to see you soon.

-Patrick & Catharine-

Abduction this weekend

Hi Family! I hope everyone is doing well besides the epidemic in Chicago, and small procedures in CA. This coming weekend we'll be opening Mozart's The Abduction from the Seraglio. On Saturday we had a run through for an audience of highschool students and friends. Belmonte opens the opera wishing he could enter the Palace, to save his beloved Konstanze.
It's not long before Belmonte and his trusted servent are overpowering the grumpy Osmin who refuses to let them through.But eventually Belmonte is reunited with his love, Konstanze. And the celebrate by singing a 10-minute-long duet......
About there imminent death...... But it all ends happily ever after. The run-through was a success, it was recorded by a local news station and I may have video of that to post here as early as tomorrow. My first public performance is this Saturday the 1st. It may be reviewed by the Washington Times and another arts blog. I'll certainly put those up when they are published....if they're good. HA! Love you family!

In-laws and International travel

Hi Family!

Just wanted to give a quick update of the last couple of weeks. Cat's parents came to visit us for a week of sight-seeing, catching up. While I was mostly busy working, Cat took her parents all over the place, touring Princeton, the historical sights of Philadelphia, the giant Hershey's store in NY and, of course, Rockefeller center.

All in all it was a good time, they were excited to see us, and we were happy to have them. This past weekend, while Cat prepared for the start of second semester , I was off to Puerto Rico to compete in the MET district auditions in San Juan. I flew in late on Saturday and shuttled over to Thrifty to pick up my rental. I had reserved a mid-sized vehicle. As fate would have it, mid-sized in Puerto Rico , is not the same in the US. So I stuffed myself into my midsized Toyota sardinia , and was off to the lavish Diamond Palace Casino in the upscale district of Condado. Once again, expections were a bit high. The casino portion of the hotel was no bigger than Mom and Dad's living room, and filled with the sounds of gamblers banging the sides of the machines to make sure it was working correctly. The Hotel room, while it had a nice view,

itcould have used a bit more TLC.


I did find that the beaches were beautiful, the people were mostly kind and welcomed you with a smile.
Sunday was the day of the competition. The auditions were open to the public, which was great because the audience was enthusiastic and appreciative. I also felt good because my accompaniast was also my coach and the Director of the Young Artist Program for New Jersey Opera. I sang very well. No mistakes, free and full. I was really happy with how I presented myself. Jose was also suprised at how well my audition went. We were both disappointed when I was not selected as one of the top three to move on to Regionals, however, the talent level was very high, and these competitions ride on the preferences and subjective opinions of the judges.
So it's on to the next events, which include a cover of the Duke in NJO's Rigoletto, coming up the end of February, and also the lead role of Belmonte in Mozart's Abduction from the Seraglio with Bel Cantanti Opera in Washington DC. That opens in the end of February.
Cat is looking forward to a promotion at Westminster Choir College. The teaching staff has been so impressed with her that they have put her in their top group, Symphonic Choir, which will be performing at Carnegie Hall in the spring. She is really thriving at the school, and her voice is becoming something unique and beautiful, two qualities of a top singer.
We love you all, and miss you guys very much. We think about you constantly, and hope everyone is enjoying life as much as we are here in NJ.

-Pat & Cat-

The latest

It's Official! Cat has made the Dean's list in her first semester at Westminster Choir College. To make it, one must have at least a 3.7 gpa. I'm so proud of her!

In other news, I recently was offered the role of Belmonte in Mozart's Die Entfuhrung aus dem Serail (Abduction from the Seraglio) with Bel Cantanti Opera in Washington DC. I'll be doing three shows for them in late Feb and early March. Exciting!

Our 1st Anniversary

Since we are behind on this whole blogging thing we thought we would start from the beginning of summer. Here are few pictures Niagra Falls, where we celebrated our first year as
man and wife.


-We decided to take a tour of Niagara falls and they started us off with a "Journey behind the falls. Well, "behind" was really more "to the side of", but it was still pretty impressive.


-One of our next stops was a sky tower which gave us a great overlook of the area. This is the Canadian side of the falls. If you look closely you can see a boat entering the mist of the falls. That boat is appropriately named the Maid of the Mist.

-The Maid of the Mist takes you past the American falls (seen behind us in the picture) and right into the mist of the Canadian falls. It's truly awe-inspiring as you are almost completely surrounded by hundreds of thousands of gallons of water tumbling down around you.

We had a great time in Niagara. We finished off the weekend with a beautiful dinner and fireworks show at a rooftop restaurant overlooking the falls. It was more fun than we thought it would be and I'd encourage anybody to go.

Here we are!

Hey Family! Yes, we have made it to the Blogging world. We'll post an update soon. Love you guys.

Cat and Pat