Event + Response = Outcome

positive_thinking

My Dad is always sending me little snippets of positivity, articles that he reads and thinks may help me to focus on a particular task or perk me up when I have preparation to complete for a concert or recital. Today was no different he knows that I have three important projects on the go at the moment and wanted to give me something to think about.

The article was from a blog (www.sunilbali.com) and dealt with positive attitude and overcoming obstacles placed in our way. I read the article based on the training techniques adopted by swimmer Michael Phelps and how under the guidance of his trainer Bob Bowman he went on to become the most decorated Olympian of all time. During his time competing he won 22 Olympic medals which included 18 gold.

The method used by Phelps and his mentor to achieve his successes was based around the idea that no matter what obstacle you face it is your response to that determines the outcome. (Event + Response = Outcome)

I have entered 100s of competitions, festivals and auditions during my training and although I was successful in many of them it was the ones that I missed out on that sometimes helped me the most. The critique and guidance that I received from the adjudicators and judges gave me things to work on, improvements to aim for.

I actually enjoy finding things that I need to improve and the new challenges that brings. At first it’s hard to swallow but I’m working on something right now with my singing and it’s hard and I know it will take a while but I know that it is going to be worth it in the end and make me a better musician.

Dane_web-15
Dane Lam

When I was studying at the Junior RNCM a conductor, Dane Lam, who taught us as an ensemble recommended the British Youth Opera as a great way to improve our understanding of an Opera Company and get some invaluable training. So back in January I decided to audition for the British Youth Opera when they came to the RCS. I had been working on the performance element of my singing and wanted to see how I held up under the pressure of an audition. Can you imagine my excitement when I received a call back to attend a second audition in London?

BYO_header_logo

That is why I was down in London last weekend staying with my brother 🙂 The audition was a fantastic experience and I enjoyed every minute of it. Last week I received an email to tell me that I had been successful and could I attend a week’s workshop in the summer. This will be a wonderful opportunity I’m very excited.

Update on the Artist Signal Competition:

I would like to say a BIG THANK YOU 🙂 to everyone who supported me in the Artist Signal competition during February. My page went live on the 7th February and I posted five classical tracks on the site and entered the fray at position #1684 .

AS-23-24-28-02-2014

So what did I learn from the event?

Preparation is key. I entered the competition without fully understanding how it operated and how to get my songs heard by the people who visited the site. I had to learn quickly and think on my feet or face the possibility of getting lost in the crowd. I had no rewards to encourage people to vote multiple times for me and I loaded all of my tracks free to download which I was advised was not a smart thing to do by the winner of the competition.

What was my response?

My response was to communicate with other artists and voters and try and put over my interests and goals in as positive a way as possible. I tried to encourage people to listen to my songs and let me know what they thought of them.

The Outcome

During the competition I received many messages of encouragement from friends both old and new and I was excited to see my position change as I climbed through the chart. By the closing date I managed to make position #25 with over 11,000 votes and over 30,000 individual Facebook likes. In their classical chart my five songs took the top 5 places and in their overall chart they were all in the top 9 ‘Top Songs’ for the month.

Overall-Chart
Top Ten Chart From February ( all Genres )
Artist-Chart-Classical
Top Ten Chart from February ( Classical Tracks )

44 thoughts on “Event + Response = Outcome”

    1. Thanks Martin, I think it’s fabulous that the BYO came up to the RCS in Glasgow to do the initial auditions because there’s only so many London auditions you could do. The first audition taught me a lot and that was my primary driver for doing it so that they become less nerve-wracking for me.

      Best wishes
      Charlotte

      Reply

  2. Absolutely thrilled by your success in getting into the British Youth opera summer workshop. We have sometimes attended their performances and this is a fantastic stepping stone to an operatic career.

    Reply

    1. Thanks Linda, I’m always so worried about working all summer and not concentrating full time on my music that this will give me a great boost in the middle of the recess.

      Best wishes
      Charlotte

      Reply

    1. Thanks Cate, do you enjoy watching films as well as your writing because I watched a film on Saturday that I think you’d enjoy, it is called The Book Thief, it’s based on a novel by Markus Zusak if you’d rather read the book. It only got 2*s in the Guardian Film Review but I enjoyed it. Another 1* review it got said it was full of feelgood tragi-sentimental slush, what’s not to like about that? 😉
      Best wishes
      Charlotte

      Reply

  9. You deserve all the success you achieved in the Artist Signal competition. In voting for such a worthy competitor the pleasure was all mine.

    I hope you enjoyed your visit to Llangollen. Until 18 months ago we lived in Ceredigion. Wales has such a rich performance culture.

    Being prepared to recognise one’s imperfections is a key to success. I am now retired but during my working life in interviewing staff one was encouraged to seek out the applicants strengths and weaknesses. My question was usually, “Please identify your strengths and areas for potential development”. If you understand those you’ll be on the right path.

    Have a great time with the BYO, Charlotte. Enjoy the singing and the friendships that you will make.

    Reply

    1. Thanks Terry my number one voter :). I go to Llangollen this Saturday the 8th March, my Dad grew up in Caernarfon so at least he knows the way. I took part in the Eisteddfod in one category last year for the first time I hadn’t heard of the festivals until then, thoroughly enjoyable. I’ll try to get a couple of photos for my blog.

      I’m still pinching myself about the BYO. I’d love to do a week like this in Germany to help with my lieder.

      Best wishes
      Charlotte

      Reply

  11. Congratulations on the audition success and the remarkable achievement on the Artist Signal competition. It was fun to watch you rise to prominence from obscurity. That vote counter certainly keeps moving at a lick!

    Reply

  12. Congratulations on your selection. I think you should try that think again next month (April) in the artist signal, you know the format now and better results await you. As far as motivation is concerned I maintain a folder of all these great people who fought against all odds to accomplish their dreams. keep up the great work 🙂 😀

    Reply

    1. Hi Gaurab, I think my brothers would kill me, my Mum nagged them to death for the whole three weeks, telling each of them who was voting more for me he he. I was thrilled to get over 30,000 individual Facebook likes but they don’t count and my friends seemed reluctant to click through to register a main vote. You also can’t do it without multiple votes and that is such a lot to ask. If I had a cd or a big event to promote though I would definitely make the effort again.

      Best wishes
      Charlotte

      Reply

  14. Very good job, very nice way forward. You’re becoming a professional fabulous, but also a beautiful person with a big heart and a beautiful humility.
    Keep it up, you’re wonderful.

    Reply

  15. I think you had a great success within AS, despite not making the top prize. In addition to the unconditional support you received from your loyal fans, you gained more fans that didn’t know about you before. But more importantly you earned the respect from that community because not only did i see fans voting for you but artists as well saying how such a wonderful person you are. I think in this sense going from zero to over 11000 votes without forming alliances, starting a week after and opening yourself in the way you did was a huge success.

    Your charm may could become an important pivotal for the promotion of Opera singing in the next generation. To illustrate my example i will share a story. On Feb 14 I attended for the first time to the opera, cinderella, played totally in french. There were subtitles on top of the stage so I was enjoying the complete picture, knowing the dialogues, listening to the music, live orchestra, hearing the beautiful voices and looking at the actions. During the play, there was a singer whose voice immediately captivated my attention. I like all kinds of music, but I always have a preference for soprano voices and high notes. But she was a messosoprano voice, not going for the very high notes. Still liked the way she delivered. I looked for her in youtube, not very well known, hard to find, but I was lucky to find a video of her singing “La clemenza di Tito” displaying her Colorattura techniques. Only 200+ views and two likes. One was mine. She was so good that she immediately reminded me of one of my favorite artists, Natasha Marsh.

    I feel the world needs to rediscover the theater. Many people can give words of advice to you, and share with you what has worked for them, but it is up to you how to make things work for you. Because what works for one person doesn’t always work for everybody. You need to let more people know you. You have a long future and giving away your songs is a good way to let people know who you are. Later, you will have great songs to sell, but right now you need people to know who you are. And in that sense, I think your participation in AS was a huge success.

    Reply

    1. Hi Gerardo, what a lovely comment, thank you so much 😉 Your words are very encouraging and I’m very grateful you took the time to write this. Just bringing you across to my blog community is success enough for me 😉

      Best wishes
      Charlotte

      Reply

  18. Congratulations! Patricipating in the British Youth Opera sounds like loads of fun and I hope it will be a great experience for you. 🙂 And I think you did amazingly well in the AS campaign, considering you didn’t start at the beginning of the month. So congrats on that as well. 🙂

    Reply

  21. Congratulations on your success with the charts. Sounds like you did great for a first time. Next time you may just be in the top five. All your very hard work is paying off.

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  25. First of all well done with the BYO audition, you thoroughly deserve it because you work so hard and its nice to see you getting some extra training at such a prestigious place.
    It was very exciting voting and following your progress for the full 3 weeks. I believe you have showcased yourself well. xx

    Reply

  26. Congratulations, Charlotte on getting into BYO workshop, how exciting I’m sure you will love it. wonderfull result on artist signal too, it was very exciting watching you going up the ranks.xx

    Reply

  28. Very many congratulations – just fantastic!

    I absolutely believe that it’s our response to challenges and obstacles that shape us; just trying to remember that as I adjust to being back in work..!

    Reply

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