I love my job . . . most of the time

OK, today we take a break from CREATIVE HABIT and talk about what happened in rehearsal.

First of all, when I walked in 10 minutes early, here is what I saw: John was vacuuming, Sarah was writing the order of the rehearsal on the board, Rebecca was hole-punching materials for today, Adrian was getting ready to begin warmups. It was a little beehive of activity. Singers were arriving EARLY, getting their music ready. Adrian turned and said "Dr. O, can ya feel the love in here?"

Yes, I could.

And I walked back to get something in the office thinking: "God, I love my job.
I have the BEST bunch of students in the world".

We accomplished most of what I wanted to in rehearsal today, although I can tell that some of you are actually learning your notes and others need to.

I'm itching to move past the "note phase" to the "making music" phase, aren't you?
It isn't happening fast enough for me. Though faster in Chorale than in frequency, I'm afraid. (that's gotta be another post)

Hence the title of this blog. I love my job...most of the time. I get frustrated at pacing. Most conductors deal with this delicate balance. Trying to get an entire folder of music ready (but not too ready) at the right time.

Peaking too early is not good.

We become stagnant and our performance is lackluster.

Peaking too late is not good.

We experience lost opportunity and regret.

So, we rely on the TEAM to catch the vision of the conductor and then rely on the TEAM to slog it out in practice (both individual training and group practice) and then we rely on the TEAM to show up for the game and to give 110%.

Most of you do and I thank you for it. Making music with you is a privilege.

To those of you that need to step up your game, let me remind you... "Coach O" can't do it all. The first string members get tired if they have to do all the blocking and tackling. Everyone should be first string in chorale...

Go team!