In her very first “Grace Notes” column classical crossover contralto Grace Foley takes us back to the very beginning of her musical journey.
Hello, and welcome to ‘Grace Notes’! Let me start by saying how thrilled I am to be part of the Classical Crossover Magazine team. Here, I will share my thoughts, opinions, stories, dreams, and adventures and I hope you’ll all enjoy the journey.
For my first column, I simply want to introduce myself and give you a little insight into how my love affair with music began. My background is in Classical Music, having trained in that style from the age of 14 and then attending the Royal Irish Academy of Music for 5 years. This was a life-changing time but my musical journey began long before that…
I am an only child and grew up close to a certain number of people who I felt completely comfortable with. I was blessed with 3 living grandparents and was particularly close to my Nana Foley, who I saw every day. She thought the world of me, and I of her. I had uncles I adored spending time with and a small number of close friends with whom I shared childhood adventures. These friends and a few of my closest cousins were subjected to being cast in my various ‘concerts’ and ‘plays’. While they got to see ‘the real’ me, I was very shy around strangers and I would turn quiet at large gatherings. When I sang in the privacy of my living room, I envisioned huge crowds of people watching me. When I sang in the back of the car, I imagined myself in music videos and the whole world knowing my name. Yet, when asked to sing in front of others, I would feel a very familiar fear rise within me and would often refuse to perform. I found this aspect of my own personality very frustrating!
During one particular car journey, I was singing ‘Colours of the Wind’ from Pocahontas, when my father heard something special in my voice. When we got home, he told my Mom, ‘I think herself can sing’. My parents had huge belief in me since I was a child but were never pushy and are very unassuming people. I’m sure they would have loved to see me on a stage even then, but I also feel they knew I would jump that hurdle in my own time. Looking back now I see that I was a young child with huge potential but nowhere to show it…yet.
Throughout my primary school education, (age 5 to 12), I kept a relatively low profile when it came to singing. I so wanted to be in the spotlight but my fear outweighed my desire and so, I stayed to the back a little longer. It was during my secondary school years, (age 13 to 19), that I started to own my identity as a singer. I could no longer hide my voice as its’ size grew and grew. It was then I began singing lessons with the late Aine Nic Ghabhann and the rest, as they say, is history!
In future columns you will get to know more about where my journey went from there but, for now, I want to leave you with that young woman who held so much hope and promise. She didn’t know the challenges that lay ahead. She couldn’t have dreamed that, for a period of time, music would leave her life. But I can tell her that music will always return to her and that it will be become a refuge, a best friend, and a path to some of life’s most rewarding experiences. Mine is a story about the power of belief, and not just my own. Surround yourself with people who believe in you, even when you cannot believe in yourself anymore. Make sure to remember the child that lives inside you, because your hope lies in them…
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A great first article Grace. I knew a lot about you already but this told me more, especially about your childhood and the support you received from you grandparents and parents. So grateful you overcame your reluctance to sing and now share your music with all of us. Looking forward to your next article.