Current mood:

determined

Don Giovanni
A few years back, pre-Puffbird in fact, I was a member of the Utah Symphony Chorus. We sang a lot of great stuff, Benjamin Britten's "War Requiem" is the one I still talk about, and I had a great time. While I was singing with them though was during my time on the Paxil. I met Puffbird and my coping skills changed focus.

I ended up dropping out of the Symphony Chorus and another choir that I was involved with at the time (which is really OK because the conductor was, perhaps he has changed, an unbelievably emotionally manipulative person and I'm better to be done with him) and not doing very much with music for a good while. I played the piano and taught the odd, and sometimes even, piano lesson, but I missed my time in the choir.

Flash forward to a couple years ago, Puff sends me an email saying the Utah Symphony Chorus has a new director, Susanne Sheston who is really good, and they were having auditions and that I should try out or penalties would ensue. I try out, I get in and I immediately flake out. It's not entirely my fault for there were a number of upheavals going on in our lives at the time. I thought that I had made very little impression on Susanne, and if i had it would have been a bad one.

So, yesterday I get an email from Susanne. There's been a last minute opening for the chorus of Don Giovanni with the Utah Symphony Opera and she wants me to do it. I am floored, due mainly to the fact the I previously stated: I didn't realize I had made any impression on her, least of all a good one.

The reason I'm not jumping at the chance to do this is now that I'm making a fair bit of money accompanying, I'm also spending a lot of time doing it. I have previously committed to being rehearsal pianist for "Sound of Music" with our local arts council and I have recitals at the end of April and beginning of May for the students I accompany, and two students that I work with at the Salt Lake School for the Performing Arts are going to the State Solo and Ensemble Competition. All of these are smack dab in the middle of Don Giovanni. Which bums me out. It would be a $400 dollar check and I'd be in a freakin' opera. A professional opera at that. It is so cool. Whether I like Mozart or not, it's a frakin professional opera production with a professional check.

My day will be spent planning the next month to the minute to see if I can do this.