#WHO STARTS A CONCERT AND THEN FORGETS TO WATCH THE SECOND HALF 😭

[sunlightfeeling]

A SMAPttering of Pop-Up gifs

…g-get it c-cuz smattering….cough

[theresa-of-liechtenstein]

sunday three hour rehearsal went…….. not as badly as i was afraid of when i was having a practice room crashout in my apartment the day before?

i had like. nobody in my section yesterday except my deskie, three undergrads, and all three older people. which was like, big sigh.

tita conductor was taking attendance naming off the empty chairs of people in the firsts and then looked me straight in the eye and said “and who are we missing?” and thinking she wanted a list i started naming people off the top of my head but she said a little sharply “don’t tell me, just keep it in your head” beloved my bad so are we communicating by telepathy now 😭💀

we started on the britten and while preparing to start from a part of the movement meant to bite with a surprise forte, tita conductor made direct eye contact with me, made a very lateral broadening gesture i recognized from chamber singers warmups while making a face, and got into the measure with a guttural GROWL. i let out a snort and nearly didn’t come in

according to principal trumpet the whole brass section fell all over themselves laughing

we were starting the final movement of the britten and i was on edge (i come in on a half note triplet two measures in, in unison with the violas so i was intent on counting watching them) when tita conductor cut us off and said “wait wait, we’ve got things going on” to which two horn players in the back said “we can’t see you very well”

tita conductor tried directing them to position themselves on either side of the bass drum they were sitting a few rows behind but one of them piped up again and said “well, it’s just because you were way down low” (movement starts piano)

tita conductor said “ah,” knowingly, “i was just doing my leonard bernstein, you know,” and wiggled

viola friend and i locked eyes and lost it

(oh holy shit i'm listening to my rehearsal recordings to mine quotes and my runs don’t sound terrible. okay i think i’m psyching myself out just a bit)

“if you’ve ever practiced exercises like this, [context - last movement of britten has similarities to vocal exercises] you know how much we look forward getting back to the tonic so we can stop and have a snack” -tita conductor

we started the brahms orchestration in the middle of the piece, close to my solo, and i was not sufficiently prepared to do it on the spot without the rest of the piece to build it up. i dropped out at the end of it 💀

we did it a second time and tita conductor said "more em" toward at the end of it to which i was thinking. god no. would like less of me actually

i was not asked to help with food during the break this time but people were very curious about the ube (purple yam) i brought for a snack which was like. i forget i'm like exotic or whatever 😭

during the insane oboe moment in the third movement of the christmas opera suite, oboe 2 missed a bit of his run, pulled off his reed and said "UGH!" out loud, the poor guy

i'm grateful that tita conductor explains her gestures to me if she senses i'm misinterpreting her, which is what happened in the first movement of the christmas opera suite (which also will open our concert). it's nice of her

i was anticipating a much faster tempo into the fourth movement of the dvo��ák and was very startled when half the room didn't follow it so i just meekly dialed back 😭

tita conductor (re: second movement): we are not necessarily birds. we are people who are thinking about how we like birds.

anyways, happy concert week to all who celebrate!