BlackCatBonifide, LLC

Twitterpated is this weekend, a voice recital program by sopranos Liz Rishel, Gwen Schmidt and myself, with special guest tenor Sean Lenhart and pianist Bill Larson. A polar opposite of our Autumnal program in 2012, which focused on ghosts, spooks, and witches, this time love and madness are the key themes (hence borrowing the title from Disney terminology). We have a lovely program in store, including works by Menotti, Strauss, Mozart, Rossini and a special vocal arrangement of a classic Bambi tune. Join us Sat, April 5th @7pm at the Modern Formations Gallery. Admission is FREE (donations accepted, to support Pgh Savoyards and Undercroft Opera) and there will be a reception following the program. (see website  or Facebook Event)

Now that the jet lag has fully left my body, I am happy to do a quick writeup about my return to GDC (Game Developers Conference) in San Francisco last week.

I once again went with the Audio Track, which I highly recommend if you are a musician or sound designer in or interested in the industry, and had a blast with the onslaught of panels, discussions, gameplay demos, parties and more. Thursday night was especially awesome as I was able to attend the first ever GDC Wedding of my Schell Games coworker Heidi McDonald. It was a crazy time, video game themed of course, and got lots of media attention. As soon as the party left I ran across the hall to the remaining portion (I had been half hearing the awards thru the wall during the wedding) of the G.A.N.G Audio Awards in time to watch Last of Us and Bioshock Infinite snag multiple wins.

This year my travel (aka crazy flight times) allowed me extra wiggle room in SF. I had a lovely time catching up with some of the Loudr.fm team over deeelish mexican food, hanging out with past GameSoundCon/GDC/MAGfest associates and also made it to both 8bitSF concerts on tues and friday night, POW POW POW GDC (featuring Danimal Cannon and other chiptuners) and the first California appearance of Metroid Metal at 8bit POW POW presents Band Saga LIVE.

So there it is… home again, back to the audio grind refreshed, and ready for a new onslaught of upcoming side projects.. dear god I’m in 3 shows this month alone… bring it on!

I’m super pleased to be in the opening night cast of Gilbert and Sullivan’s Utopia Limited! My show dates as Princess Kalyba are (3/7;3/9;3/13;3/15), I sing in the chorus on alternate dates. Join us for a FREE reception after the opening performance. We have two amazing casts, and an equally amazing chorus. Join us for this Pittsburgh Premiere! Tickets on sale through cast, orchestra and crew members, online, and at the door! Facebook Event

I am now officially on the Board of Directors of PARSEC, “the Pittsburgh area’s premiere SciFi organization “to promote awareness of the richness of speculative fiction as literature, art and music”. As a former ‘filk’ guest artist of Confluence, with the Zombie Opera, and a fan of the Parallax Second Players, I’m excited to get involved, adding my music and game perspective to the collective. Lots of things in the works for this group such as the Alpha Writers Workshop, updates to the main, conference and Parsec Ink web pages, planning panel topics for events, and more.

I was interviewed for this month’s “Employee Spotlight” at Schell Games.  They’re featuring a new employee each month, so check out the Spotlight page to “meet some of the interesting, creative, talented and supremely awesome people who make Schell Games the best game studio around.”

I’m excited to be heading up the ‘creature team’ for Undercroft Opera‘s Die Zauberflöte/”The Magic Flute” by Mozart this summer. Birds, serpents, puppets, and masks, oh my!  In addition, thanks to all the shows and auditions going on recently I was finally able to focus on organizing the music section of my website. Deadlines make the best motivators! Check out the new and improved Video Game Audio and Vocal Performance pages.

Schell Games has gotten so big, we’re moving to a bigger building this April! Goodbye, Southside. I’ll miss you. Onward to Station Square! “Schell Games, a fast-growing entertainment technology firm, is moving to Station Square…”

Opera update! I made it into the ensemble for this summer’s production of The Magic Flute with Undercroft Opera. This will be my first Mozart since Marriage of Figaro in 2010 so I’m excited to get back into Amadeus territory this May. Till then, Gilbert and Sullivan’s Utopia Limited rehearsals are in full swing as we prepare for the Pittsburgh Premiere this March! Busy, busy!

MAGfest, the Music and Gaming Festival, in DC…. what can I say, but it gets more amazing every year.  If you are a fan of video game music, composers, arcades, voice actors, or just… fun…. you should go to MAGFest:)

I’m super excited to have been cast as “The Princess Kalyba” in Gilbert and Sullivan’s “Utopia Limited”! What a great way to celebrate the Pittsburgh Savoyards 75th Anniversary than with the Pittsburgh Premiere of this Gilbert and Sullivan rare operetta! (Full cast list and show details)