this day keeps getting better

This morning I played for a funeral and it went FOREVER!!!! Everything was fine, but I am a bit cramped for time since I have the rehearsal with the wind symphony this afternoon (then bells!) When I went to pick up Daniel at the sitter's, my car wouldn't start! Fortunately my neighbor took me home and I guess I will drive the big truck with the camper on it - hopefully there will be gas (which I stopped and filled the traitorous car on the way home, wasting precious minutes!) Oh well, at least the truck has AC, the car I was driving did not, and no cd player, and nasty cracked windshield etc...it is just an "in-between" car to drive until Jim fixes another one. Guess that's an advantage to having 17 cars. *sigh*

college wind symphony

Wow - just got a call from the college WS director, he said he had lined up a sitter for Daniel! I can't believe he went to all that trouble, and I feel bad because I had already arranged to have someone come with us who would watch him...But what a cool thing that he went out of his way to make that arrangement. I hope he isn't mad but I just assumed he hadn't had any luck finding anyone since I hadn't heard from him in a few weeks.

Getting nervous about playing with them tomorrow - the Adams Short Ride on a Fast Machine is crazy fast!

I've been reading some other blogs that have lists of the music laying around their practice areas - cracks me up because I have piles of music on every available surface. Currently on the stand:
Humperdinck Hansel and Gretel
Mozart Oboe concerto
6 copies of You Are My Hiding Place (from last bell choir performance)
Morricone Gabriel's Oboe

On nearby floor area:
Le Tombeau de Couperin
various other excerpts - incl. Rothwell books 1,2 and 3, and Belinsky book
Bach Double concerto
Paladilhe Solo pour Hautbois
4 different cadenza sets from Mozart oboe concerto
Copland Quiet City
Vivaldi Concerto in dm

Geckler Method
pile of "classical wedding" pieces, incl. Bach Arioso, Jesu Joy, Purcell Trumpet Tune, etc.
Singer Method for oboe book 4
Everybody's Favorite Oboe Solos
Rubank Method for oboe Elementary
Hindemith Quintet
etc etc etc

Tons of programs, posters and cds.

I really need to clean this up! That can be on the project list for after this weekend!

more more more

I was really surprised last night at how much I actually played in the Schumann First Sym. I guess that means I wasn't prepared, although I thought it went very well. So fun to finally have a second oboe - we had tons of stuff together and it made a huge difference in sound.

Today my students played on a recital - they both did great! My other guy wasn't able to play. I get nervous for them, and it is so silly but I even breathe for them! One more thing off the list.

I must practice now - I am supposed to have all these excerpts for G tomorrow, but I haven't had a moment to practice THAT, need to go through the opera and WS music. But it is a beautiful day and I would like to just lay around...we'll see if instincts overcome obligations!

Concert day!

This week has been crazy for me. But suddenly it is time for our final concert of the season, and after our dress last night, I feel a need to go over the Schumann #1 again. This was the FIRST time we had a second oboe, ever, and what a huge difference it made! Supposedly they are going to have auditions this summer - I really hope they get with the program on that. Last year we had two people switch off, and I think D figured they would do that again this year. But no one really asked these people, and oboe M decided it was too far to drive (for free) and she wanted more time with her family; and oboe A just never seemed to be available.

Interesting - oboe A used to have the principal spot, but she quit the week of a concert (before the concert) about 5 years ago. I guess the EH player (who is no longer playing with us) stepped up to play that concert - but then M told me to come audition; and I've been the principal ever since! There has been much more interest since they started paying the principals - hope they get enough to give everyone at least something.

So if they want I will offer to audition again (we don't have contracts or anything) just so oboe A doesn't feel like she is getting a raw deal, I know she really wants to play first. And she is a good player, but I can't imagine D trusting her after the episode where she left him in the lurch.

I guess I should mention that oboe C (who is playing 2nd on THIS concert) is wonderful but lives 90 miles away, so she will only come in for the final rehearsal and concerts. But hopefully she will be our EH player - this has worked out with the bass clarinet position who also lives in the same town.

puttin it together

Yay! Someone actually CALLED ME about playing in the bell choir - she has come in for big events in the past, and she is great! I was so relieved, I had called tons of people, spent valuable time fretting (my specialty) and suddenly it was all good. If you don't know, bell choirs are essentially "one on a part" so you MUST have all the parts covered, unlike vocal choirs where there are usually multiple people on each part. This is especially troublesome in church choirs, where people don't feel a real sense of obbigation (at least in my choir) to show up! I should be fair though, MOST of my choir is great about helping out, and letting me know if they will be gone.

On other fronts, I told the little symphony I'm missing rehearsal, and my sub called and she can't come. This is a problem (for the orchestra) because the first flute is also gone (and she didn't bother to get a sub, there is a great player in town who would love to do it) and the 2nd oboe won't be there either (or 2nd bassoon). And this is concert week. *sigh* I feel guilt, but I decided I really had to go to one more Hansel and Gretel rehearsal. Too many gigs! H&G has many tempo changes (and some pretty tricky fast stuff) and I am just a sub, but this is for the big opera ($) so I really don't want to suck!

Then I was able to work out my student's recital times (how many hours was I on the phone yesterday??!) and make the programs, things are looking up. Of course I still have to get some sort of reeds going so I don't embarrass myself in the orchestra concert on Saturday - after blowing them off I'd better play perfectly in the dress/concert!

I have kind of put off practicing the wind symphony music (which is also a potentially lucrative future thing) and I haven't put the time into the big symphony sub auditions that I had hoped to - this is always the problem with auditions, the actual gigs get in the way! But fortunately they are letting me set the date, so I'll just put it off a while longer. No rush on my part!

on my lips

After Hansel and Greteling on Sunday my lips were pretty shot, but I thought, power on! So Monday I took a lesson with G and practiced a bunch (audition freak-out, opera freak-out and windsymphony freak-out all at once) and then I had a concert at college orchestra (Prince Igor). Now my lips are in dried out medicated chapstick hell. THey actually don't feel that tired, but it is so dry here, I'm going through the little tubes of lip balm like crazy.

G had a great tool to measure air pressure while you play, very enlightening. Especially when you slur from E to A and it always seems to crack - I could have sworn I wasn't dropping pressure but the tool doesn't lie! So I'm working on the air thing and will have 4 excerpts by next week (of course the easy ones: La Scala, Tombeau, Stravinsky Cinderella, and just to be nice, Tchaik 4) There are so many parts to this audition; and of course each excerpt seems to have multiple parts of oboe hell. And big symphony just played Tombeau this weekend, so I know they will be asking for that first. *sigh*