A quarter of a century....

Written on my birthday, 28th of July 2014.

Today I turn 25 years old. That’s a quarter of a century, makes a girl think!

It’s scary thinking how fast my early twenties have gone, I don’t even know what I’ve done all that time. I moved away from home and I’ve been studying opera for 4 years… now I’m waiting to start studying languages at the university of Stockholm. I’m just studying and studying, but when will I ever be done? In many ways I thought I'd be somewhere else now, but I am happy to be just where I am!

I am grateful! There are so many young people in the world that never make it to this age and do not have the opportunities that I have been given in my life. I feel truly lucky to have lived this long and come this far in life. I only have gratitude towards life. I’m alive and that is more than enough!

Thank you to my family and all my amazing friends! Without each of you I would not be the same person I am today. Unfortunately all my favorite people a scattered around the world, but here are some pictures of the friends I got to celebrate with!
These people bring so much joy and laughter into my life and we take care of each other! They are the best girls (and boy!) to trash men with and laugh at and with! Love you girls! And Mr. Photographer (not pictured!) you are amazing, thank you for taking these pictures!!!!!
They will forever be beautiful memories of my 25th birthday!

So much love to you all!

xx Erika Grace

Pictures by Åke Cappelin

FLASHBACK PART II

Klassisk Sång continues...

In "Klassisk Sång" we got to participate as the chorus of Hansel and Gretle, but we were all eager for our own roles. They made us paint our lips this big to look a little whimsical.

Stockholm Operastudio year 1

Stockholm Operastudio year 2

 There are more pictures to come from the last production of "L'incoronazione di Poppea", but the photographer is on vacation...so something to look forward to. 

Aw, all the memories these pictures bring. Makes me want to cry. Or eat.

For those of you curious about the school I've been attending check out their website here. They accept international students as well. For the main site to see all the different courses they offer visit kulturama.se. 

xx Erika Grace

Photo: Emelie Kroon, Thore Kennestad (borrowed from Kulturama's homepage), Francisco Vastenman

Holiday // FLASHBACK PART I

The end is officially here. 
I have completed Stockholm Operastudio. 
The end of an era.

I think going to Stockholm Operastudio has made me much more professional.
I think differently when I'm learning music, I think about my character, the emotions that are in the text and music and the setting. 
I feel like I've become a real artist. It's almost as if I can be anyone I want to be now if I just think as if in a character. Even now when I've been running around Stockholm trying to find a summer job, going into stores and leaving a resume. It is quite nerve recking but I just decide before I enter a store to be a confident person and then I'm fine, I suddenly feel confident and when I leave I become my shy self again. I guess in many ways I'm not shy, I think I'm more shy in more private and intimate situations than I am around a bunch of people. 

Or actually I'm just shy around really hot men. You know that feeling when you can't say anything profound and laugh nervously around a guy? I hate myself every time. Then when some average-joe comes along you're calm, cool and collected and suddenly you've lead that average-joe on somehow and you think "I was being friendly, not flirting!" So tragic! HAHA!

So this summer I thought I'd share a little more personal pictures from my life and what I'm doing. You can also follow me on instagram: @operaglove and twitter: @operaglove . 

But first here is part 1 of a recap of my 4 years at Stockholm Operastudio.

Klassisk Sång åk 1

Klassisk sång åk 2

Harm

What a joy it was creating this crazy opera collage and I had so much fun playing a horny teenage boy! 

Opera Grund

xx Erika Grace

Photo: My Mother

It is Life.

The following text was written intoxicated after my final performance of L'incoronazione di Poppea at Stockholm Operastudio June 5th, 2014.

Coming to grips with the fact that I have now lived in Stockholm for 4 years is not half of what’s going through my mind.

I sit here now with a glass of wine at my right, knowing that tomorrow everything I worked so hard for at Kulturama and Stockholm Operastudio is OVER! FINITO!!! FINI!!!! DONE!!! COMPLETED!!!

It is unfathomable. All I can think of now is to stay intoxicated until eternity. I understand now why some people find alcohol comforting. I am, as I write, under the influens of 3 bottles of Corona and a glass of red wine… I have another 3 beers in the fringe. I will definitely finish them! (Kids, DON’T DRINK, It’s fantastic!!!)

Tomorrow when I wake up, mostly hung over and filled with anguish, I’m a jobless, student of an art form that takes years to complete and single. I feel like a bum. At least I have a gym subscription to work on my "bumness"…probably my only time consumption this summer. 

I don’t know what to say…. Poppea... It was really hard for me. The music is so difficult and really special, like a treasure.

So unique and complicated. 

What I love about the role of Poppea the most is the history of her. She actually existed, the story is almost accurate to its history all though we had a different take on the story. 

It is written that she was a beautiful woman who used her looks to raise her status. Something which I find fabulous. There is something so powerful about it and yet so fragile. I don’t know how much I can relate to the fact of being beautiful, to me that’s a matter of opinion, but I suppose Poppea needed to know that about herself in order to take advantage of it, to use it.  I imagine Poppea saw a certain reaction in people that fed her some kind of information that she herself, with her natural beauty, had some kind of power over people, specifically men. That to me takes a lot of courage. And it took a lot of courage to play a character like that.

You might ask “where do I go from here?” well I’ve applied to study Italien and German at the University of Stockholm. I dread having to tell “ordinary” people about myself. “Oh, I chose to study these languages because i’ve been singing Opera for the past 12 years”. 12 YEARS!!!! 

I don’t think I’ve ever expressed truly my passion for opera.

I don’t really know where to begin, I just find it incomparable to anything else. 

I love music, it is my passion. 

But opera.  

It’s like an aria.

Aria simply means air.

It is breath.

You must breath to live, therefor

It is life. 

xx Erika Grace

Photo: Francisco Vastenman