Friday December 23rd, 2016; about two weeks after SoloRecitalDebut @arraymusic, I decided to book a couple hours in the morning to do some live video shoots of myself performing so I could promote my future recording project. It was stressful because I had so much to accomplish in the span of 120 minutes: Shoot Eight music videos all live takes, and record a couple audio tracks, again all live takes. And who was responsible for all of this - Me, Myself and I. Yet on this cool crisp morning I felt energized because I was coming off the high of giving a concert on Mon, Dec 5th, and I was looking forward to outdoing myself. The challenge was to capture the magic of the concert experience on video and present myself simply as I had done a couple weeks earlier, but with even more commitment, passion and refinement. Today I was going to work to be my own booking manager, my own videographer, my own artistic director, my own singer and all this was to be accomplished on a shoestring budget. This was my personal "dog and pony show", and I did the work and I was so proud of the results. here's why: Come Again Sweet Love is an English Elizabethan song composed by John Dowland. It has been around forever, well not quite exactly but it has been in existence for centuries and it's classified by Western musicologists as "early music". And I was determined to put my own personal stamp on this work because sometimes when a song enters your life, it has a subtle yet powerful energy that latches onto your body, mind and soul. The song becomes you, and you become the song. David was not fond of my love for English song. He wanted to cut this out from the recital program. So I stood my ground. I explained to him that almost every opera singer and too many countless counter tenors, etc. do not do this song justice. Their performances always left me wanting... When a singer debuts a music video and music album, what an artist is saying to the world at large is: This is my vocal contract with you. When you hear me - YC Lee, this is the type of performance and the type of voice that you are going to receive. It is full voice, not a croon, not a childlike voice. I sing with full breath, full support and a mature sound that is growing even more mature as I am typing this blog in April 2017. I learned that through my own process of self-discovery that a singer has only two choices throughout his/her career. They can remain stagnant and be happy with their voice in a state of Unarrested Development and vocal immaturity; or they can make something of themselves and build the voice by adding more strength, agility, refinement and beauty. So this is why I fought tooth and nail with David to keep this simple yet substantial song in the recital. I wanted to welcome all my listeners with this first piece because it is deceptively easy to learn yet a hard song to master. It is a strophic song which talks alot about endless misery, but is cheerfully happy sounding due to its major tonality. The melodic line asks a question during the first half of the song and is answered with a melodic climax during the second half of the song. I acheived clear diction by avoiding unnecessary consonants and by doing the opposite. I treated this song like a bel canto Italian aria - I sang with the vowels. An opera singer I greatly admire is Joan Sutherland. Her voice was like ribbons of pearls and silver rippling away and it was a powerful voice that glowed and radiated. This is what I strive after in my voice too: a big beautiful stream of warmth to wrap my listeners with... She was always criticized for her lack of diction to which I reply that her way of singing was way more relaxed and beautiful to the listener because she did not let the words get in the way. Just listen to her performance of Casta Diva by Bellini. My answer to people who say "well, i didn't really understand her diction..." is simply go look it up on google and find the damn words yourself! If you're too lazy to comprehend the Italian from Bellini's Norma then you go make the effort to read the original libretto. And so underneath my vimeo video for Come Again Sweet Love (in the description) I do provide the words for you my lovelies. I made my artistic choices and I am happy to defend them. Why am I so proud of this acheivement? I did a couple unique things which I rarely hear from others. First off, the opening phrase of the second stanza, "Come again that I may cease to mourn through thy unkind disdain" - I perform all in one breath. It is a nearly impossible task to sing all in one breath with full voice. This can only be accomplished if the body is fully connected with proper bel canto technique. The full impact of the English diction is made more powerful if performed this way. Also I create my own climax and add to the grandness of this song by ascending to the high octave "A" at the very end. And it is not delivered weak. It is sung triumphantly as in the original lyrics "for mighty triumph laughs" and this further illustrates the artly poetry. I think John Dowland would be proud. I think he would have said, "Thanks YC for being the reactionary badazz that you are and for putting your unique Canadian impression on this old English dinosaur of a piece, and reinventing a brand new version and creating a new artistic vision".