"Regardless of how you feel inside, always try to look
like a winner.
Even if you are behind, a sustained look of control
and confidence can give you a mental edge that results in
victory."
– Arthur Ashe
I was told to bring dresses,
gowns and to look nice. I did not know what to pack, though I knew I would need
to look red carpet worthy where it was most important; the most important being
at the Tatarstan Filarmonia in Kazan, Russia.
I had waited for that moment
for such a long time. I imagined it in my mind, never considering that my dream
would come into fruition. And then it did and I had to be my best on the stage,
regardless of the cold that the deep freeze of Russia was gripping me with.
I was like a pressure cooker
about to explode with excitement at the reality that it was happening for real.
The simple idea of it was something worth salivating over and finally, I was at
the point where I could tweak the image in my mind like a filmmaker as I
literally stumbled into the vivid situation.
I looked like I was serious about what I came to do and
confident on the outside, but on the inside, I was hiding my fear of either
coughing on the stage in the middle of a song or having a runny nose on the stage, during my performance. But I
couldn’t deny the fact that I had finally reached a vision I had only saw in
the REM of a daydream. Here are some other photos from that night as well as a piece of a performance that solidified the thought, "Yes, I am here, singing with an orchestra; "At Last!"
 |
| With Anatoliy, the condutor of the Tatarstan Filarmonia Orchestra |
 |
| With Oklahoman singer and my duet partner at the Tatarstan Filarmonia in Kazan, Russia, Tavis Minner |
 |
| With the Tatarstan Filarmonia Orchestra |
