2023 year in review
My highlights and financial overview of 2023, and some goals for 2024.
2023 has been a busy year.
It has been a wonderfully enriching year, but a year that challenged me in new ways.
I am so deeply grateful to the many incredible people I have met and worked with this year, and to the longer-term friends who have been companions along this adventure.
In October, I committed to evaluating and recording my experiences on this public platform. This letter has been an opportunity for me to write about elements of music education and community I find important, to connect further with peers and collaborators, and to share myself with people that I care about.
This week, I want to share some of my favorite memories of 2023, and some goals for the year ahead. I am also including a financial breakdown of the final quarter of the year, in promotion of financial transparency. I hope to continue this habit, and to share a look into the personal finance elements of this career building process.
January:
Jazzy January performance in Brockport: this was the start of annual tradition, and I am looking forward to the second year of it! Our performance collected food and money for the local food shelf.
MLK celebration performance at Ithaca College: this included a world premier of a thought-provoking work!
Bee tattoo: I got a blue on my left upper arm to match the ladybug on my right!
February:
Attended the ACDA National Conference in Cincinnati, Ohio: met some wonderful people, saw some incredible performances, and learned a lot!
March:
Performed in Gospel Festival at Ithaca College
April:
New tattoo in Ithaca
Performance of Robert Cohen's Alzheimer's stories
Senior Recital: And All Things End. This performance was the culmination of several months of hard work, and I was really proud of the experience I had.
May:
Completed my final semester of my undergraduate education and graduated!
Travelled with Dorothy Colton Jubilee Singers to Toronto on tour.
Celebrated senior week with events, performances, and lots of quality time with my close friends <3
June:
Attended a beautiful wedding in my partner's family.
Drove 18 hours to Louisiana with friends.
Attended the Collaborative Piano Institute Vocal Academy at LSU. This was an incredible experience filled with coachings and master classes with world-class faculty. I made some incredible friends, spent three weeks in Baton Rouge, visited New Orleans, and got a magnolia tattoo.
Flew to Los Angeles, California.
Attended the N.E.O. Voice festival. I've written about this experience, but reiterate the immense impact it had on my vocal development and mindset.
July:
5th of July performance at Lincoln Center. The piece, curated and composed by Tamar-kali Brown, questioned the rhetoric of typical celebration around the 4th of July.
Traveled to Sarteano, Italy via Rome.
Participated in Sarteano Choral Conducting Workshop as an ensemble singer. This was a great look into the considerations made by conductors, and the communication that is possible between ensemble and director. I also met some incredible friends here!
Traveled to Amsterdam with my partner and good friend. We had a few days to explore museums and the city, but got tattoos, slept on a sheep farm, travelled by bike, and took a boat on the Canal.
Traveled home to England: this trip was even shorter, due to a flight delay, so we really only had about 3 days to show my partner around London, travel to see Hozier at the beginning of his tour, and travel to see my grandmother for the first time in seven years.
After two months straight on the road, travel home to Ithaca via Rochester and a wild adventure through Manhattan to catch a bus.
August:
Returned to work at Wegmans.
Went to a Fall Out Boy concert with my dad and sister.
Celebrated my birthday, including dinner with friends and paddleboarding.
September:
Traveled to Michigan to take trial lessons.
Went to Apple Festival with my mum.
Celebrated my partner's birthday with a stay in a state park cabin.
October:
Traveled to Baltimore to take trial lessons.
Traveled to Adirondacks to celebrate friend's birthday!
Recording sessions with DCJS.
Started writing this newsletter!
November:
Traveled to NYC, then Boston, then New Haven for trial lessons.
Recorded my prescreening materials for applications.
Civic Morning Musicals Vocal competition: I was a finalist and got some great feedback.
Traveled to Chicago to see my sister's performance!
Performed as the soprano soloist in regional Messiahs.
Submitted first round applications to graduate school! You can read more about this experience here!
December:
Fun personal and social things, including getting a massage, catsitting, and starting a Dnd campaign!
Performed messiah with Cayuga Chamber Orchestra and Cayuga Vocal Ensemble.
Performed with Syracuse Schola Cantorum.
Sang Christmas Eve service and celebrated Christmas with family.
This has been a busy year, and has presented me with some truly incredible experiences and friendships. I’m so grateful for everything mentioned above and those I was not able to include, and proud of the things I have been able to achieve and my personal progress. Thank you for coming along for this journey <3
Financial Breakdown
I started closely tracking and organizing my budget during the first week of October, and wanted to share some loose statistics from my findings. While this is just a snippet of my yearly financial standings, I think this is fairly representative of the framework of my budget at this stage of my career.
Income
As you can see above, the majority of my income has come from my day job at Wegmans. I work between 25 and 35 hours a week, at a competitive hourly wage, and this provides the bulk of my weekly paycheck. I did, however earn about another half of my income during this period from music-related jobs. This included performances, teaching privately, and some income from publishing this newsletter. I also had some off jobs, including race timing, pet sitting, and completing surveys. I have also received some financial help from my parents, which has primarily been with the intention of covering student loan payments.
This income has been essential to my daily life, and additional projects such as paying off some credit card balances and applying to graduate school. I think it is important to acknowledge that I have the privilege of financial support from my parents, and that I rely on a non-music job to supply a bulk of my income.
Expenses
This breakdown is a little more complex. A few things to highlight: the bulk of my expenses have been rent, credit card payments, gifts, and lessons. This represents my priorities during this season: credit balance payoff, celebrating the holidays with family, and investing in my musical growth. You can also see the investments in high-quality recordings and applications, and small luxuries such as eating out and a gym membership.
I might be interested in publishing a more specific financial breakdown, if this is something you’d be interested in reading! Let me know in the comments if you’d like to learn more about my budgeting strategies and goals, and the expenses of a musical career!
Goals for 2024
I’m not always the biggest fan of new year’s resolutions, but I have been thinking a lot about my goals and intentions for 2024. Here are some of those goals:
Audition of graduate programs and make an informed decision about the best next steps for my career. While I intend to begin a graduate degree in the fall of 2024, I understand that my path will become clear to me, and am looking forward to the next year of my development.
Invest time into journaling and documenting my time. I have plans to start writing morning pages, keeping a practice journal, and recording more TikTok videos. I find that I feel much more present and connected to my daily life when I am intentionally reflecting on it, and this is a plan to work towards that practice.
Spend and budget wisely, and transition my income sources to music-based jobs. As highlighted above, I work from a fairly strict budget to be able to invest into the specific projects that I care about. I intend to stay even more committed to these goals, and to be able to rely more securely on gigs in the musical field rather than my day job.
Invest in collaborative music making. I am in the early stages of creating a commissioned piece with a wonderful composer, and looking forward to spending time with the music. I am also looking forward to connecting with more collaborators in my next location and community, and working towards more recital and ensemble performances.
I am looking forward towards the coming year with hope and determination, and can’t wait to see what it holds for me! I hope you have a wonderful New Year’s eve, and a joyful beginning to 2024.
Thank you for reading, and for supporting me and my work. If you are able, please consider a small financial contribution:
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Upcoming Performances:
January 6, 2024, 7pm; St. Luke’s Episcopal Church, Brockport: Jazzy January with the St. Luke’s Schola Cantorum
January 26, 2024, 7:30pm; Ford Hall, Ithaca College: Concert in Honor of Dr Martin Luther King Jr. with Dorothy Cotton Jubilee Singers
January 28, 2024, 3pm; Broome County Forum Theatre, Binghamton: Mozart’s Requiem with Southern Tier Singers Collective and Binghamton Philharmonic Orchestra
Thank you for reading <3
Love,
Caitlin