av8rmike

I don't normally believe in Fate, but today has made me briefly reconsider.

This morning, on a whim, I called back the director of a local community orchestra here in Baltimore. I tried e-mailing and calling before, no response. Today, I get the guy , and he tells me the first rehearsal of the group is tonight, just show up. No audition, no placement, nothing. Well, that should have been a sign right there. Another one might have been that the conductor couldn't remember the name of the concertmaster. I also e-mailed the Columbia Orchestra to see what their substitute policy is.

I just now came back from rehearsal, and that was one of the few times the winds almost outnumbered the strings. There were only 6 violins. Not 6 in each section, six. It was my first time playing in an orchestra in almost 10 years, and boy, was I lost. The only piece I knew well was Schubert's "Great" Symphony in C-major. Fortunately, almost everyone else was sightreading too, so I didn't feel so bad. Then I came home to find that the Columbia Orchestra had e-mailed me back and suggested I attend a few rehearsals to "get a feel for it" before a real audition! I have a feeling that group might be a little too above my level.

My lesson Thursday ought to go real interesting, me confessing that I'm already in an orchestra.