I have a PAID church gig!

I got an email yesterday from one of the other singers in the benefit concert I did last summer.  She wondered if I could sub for her at her church job for 2 weeks while she & her husband are out of town for a wedding.  My calendar's clear for the dates, so I said yes.  After singing for free at my own church essentially all my life, I'm actually gonna get PAID to go to 2 choir rehearsals and sing 2 services along with the rest of the choir.    Not my denomination, so I'll have to pay close attention to the order of service, but that's a minor point.  I have no plans to give up singing at my own church, but it's a nice little change of pace, and the cash will be a nice bonus. :)

I guess they liked it...

We had our first performance of the Brahms last night.  The audience must have enjoyed it - they started standing up as soon as the maestro's body language told them it was over, and they kept applauding through three sets of bows!

This conductor is a lot of fun to work with.  His joy in the music is obvious, and his conducting body language is so expressive, it's almost as if he dances through it.  He certainly gets good music out of both chorus and orchestra, and I think we all enjoy the experience.

Never had to audition for a class before

I need to take at least 2 more performance classes in order to graduate.  In this program, that means you audition or interview.  Yesterday was my audition for the Alexander Technique class.  I had no idea what to expect - I'd never heard of interviewing to get into a class!  And getting in isn't a given; the class is limited to 12, and 18 people signed up for interviews.  The instructor expects to notify people by the middle of next week.

Today was my audition for Voice for the Actor.  I trimmed down the Veta Louise monologue I've used before.  It went well enough, and the professor then had me start it again as if Veta were seriously pissed off about this situation.  (I'd been playing her as at her wits' end.)  She warned me that she'd cut me off before I finished, and she did, but she explained that anger seems to play funnier.  The whole thing took maybe 5 minutes, tops.  I told her it was the shortest, most painless audition I think I've ever had.  She expects to post her list by the end of the day tomorrow.  While I don't have class at this building tomorrow, we do meet here for the "Brahms buses", so I can check the list before we have to board the buses for our concert.

I've now been introduced to this concept of having to audition for a class.  The scary part is that they only let you audition (or interview) twice; after that, you're out of luck.    Yike!

The wheels on the bus...

And we're off!  Two busloads of singers, headed to our first rehearsal with the orchestra.  (We had our first run-through with the maestro last night.)  My seatmate, a middle school music teacher, is working on lesson plans.  I've got my music, my water bottle, a coupla pencils, and a little dinner - I'm ready for this. Looking forward to singing with a professional orchestra!