Madeline's Musical Mission

  More than 400 years ago, a new style of music was born in Florence, Italy.  In Florence, in the mid to late 1500s, there was a small group of artists, writers, statesmen, and musicians known as the Florentine Camerata. They decided to recreate the storytelling of Greek drama through the use of music. Many people consider the first opera to be "Dafne" by Jacopo Peri. After the creation of this opera, two types of opera began to emerge: Opera Seria, and Opera Buffa. Opera Seria was considered to be formal and dignified, as it was sponsored and overseen by royalty. Opera Buffa was more comedic and entertaining for a less formal audience. So similar to Greek drama, there were the two sections of tragedy and comedy.  By the time of the Baroque era (1600-1750), the new music form known as opera had overtaken the performance scene all throughout Europe. There was something new and inspiring about it to its surprised audiences. It was an expensive, spectacular affair full of ar...

 My Mother: the Musician! Ever since my Mother was a little girl, she has been very passionate for performing and listening to music. She grew up in a house that was always filled with music, whether it was from a record player, from a movie, or simply from hearing family members sing. From a very young age, she quickly decided that music would be a significant part of her life. At the age of 8, she sang "Rockin' Robin" in her school talent show and won! This inspired her to start making music a serious part of her life. She ended up taking voice lessons and being in choir throughout her years of middle and high school. As a child/young teen, she loved listening to "New Kids on the Block", "Phantom of the opera", "Michael Jackson", "Whitney Houston", and "Dolly Parton". Here is a video of "New Kids on the Block": Throughout her life, she has seen music evolve. She has seen that some genres have become more explic...