5:20 a.m. – I am out of bed a half hour earlier than usual, just to get a jump on what I know will be an especially long and challenging day.
6:27 a.m. – I bypass my usual Egg McMuffin in favor of a Steak McMuffin, figuring that I’ll have no problem whatso- ever sweating off the extra 120 calories over the course of this exceptionally eventful day.
6:40 a.m. – The moment I walk into the WGTD studios, I begin assembling that day’s Morning Show, which will be a preview of the RTG’s “Les Miserables.” I have two different interviews recorded earlier in the week and several music excerpts recorded the night before – and I have to get all of those separate sound files downloaded into our system and assembled into a coherent show. With the clock ticking, it feels like a very strange episode of Iron Chef.
8:09 a.m. – Just as I am about to hit <<save>> on my completed program, I see that the total time is 51:12 …. which makes it more than two minutes too long for the Morning Show. Frantically, I try to remove one of the music excerpts from the middle of the show but realize that I don’t know how to do that. (There’s no Delete button in this particular program.)
8:11 a.m. – I finally concoct a way to slide the musical excerpt in question out of the main body of the program and hit save, just as I hear Dave McGrath finishing up his last weather forecast of the morning. A few moments later, the show’s theme music is playing. I have cut it close, but was able to finish the program by the skin of my teeth.
8:14 a.m. – It’s only as I’m on my way down to Tremper High School to rehearse with the choir that it dawns on me – The reason my total file appeared to be too long was because the last musical excerpt to be played was the finale of the show – “Do you hear the people sing” and more than two minutes of applause after it …. but Dave McGrath’s instructions were to pot down the sound of the applause and end the show. So in fact I HAD correctly calculated the total length of all those elements- and then panicked. Oh well. I’ll play “Empty Chairs” some other time.
8:32 a.m. – I am in the Tremper choir room, playing Copland’s “Stomp Your Foot” – an accompaniment which is written for Piano Four Hands, but this morning it’s just little old me. It’s an adventure trying to figure out how many notes my two hands can play. After that, I sight-read a really wonderful, generous medley from Wizard of Oz. The kids at Jane Vernon Elementary School, for whom we’ll be performing, will LOVE this!
9:15 a.m. – The choir is in the gym of the school, in front of a crowd of elementary school youngsters, who are incredibly attentive and well-behaved (reminding me of the youngsters at Schulte, where Kathy teaches- and where audience etiquette has long been taught). And the kids seem to love every second of what is sung for them, from “We welcome you to Munchkinland” to “Under the Boardwalk” to “Stomp Your Foot.” And in the middle of an insanely busy day, I’m happy for this chance to experience this kind of singing for this kind of audience- a good reminder of what all of this is about.
10:10 a.m. – En route to Holy Communion, I take a phone call from my former voice student Nick Barootian, who is asking for repertoire advice for an upcoming audition he will be singing. It’s very strange to go from “that’s how we laugh the day away in the merry old land of Oz!” to discussing the pros and cons of various opera arias.
11:00 a.m. – I begin playing the prelude for the funeral of Florence May Weber, who passed away the previous Saturday. It’s an incredibly moving service. Pastor Mark delivers a lovely sermon; Heather Doidge does a wonderful job singing “Borning Cry.” Florence’s three grandchildren, through many tears, deliver a very touching eulogy. And at the end of the service, we all sing Florence’s favorite hymn, “Silent Night” with her great-granddaughter soloing on the first verse. The rest of the world sort of goes away in a moment like that.
11:55 a.m. – I take a moment on my way to my car to check on the duck nest right outside of the sanctuary. All five eggs look untouched and as beautiful as ever.
12:30 p.m. – I begin teaching a voice lesson to Jack Haggett, the first of three voice lessons – with Kevin Gussel and Nick Huff to follow. When life gets this crazy, I am especially thankful for those moments when I get to (in effect) retreat into these one-on-one encounters with my voice students. And Friday afternoons are always fun because I see a nice array of students: Jack, a promising freshman just finishing up his first semester of lessons with me, Kevin, a non-music major who nonetheless loves singing as much as any of my music majors, and Nick, who hopes (with good reason) to sing professionally someday. It’s hard not to love your job when you get to work with fine young guys like these.
2:45 p.m. – The moment I’m done with the last of the three lessons, I am racing upstairs to Siebert Chapel for the last rehearsal of Mozart’s Cosi fan tutte. Everybody appears to be there, ready to rock and roll, and it’s good to see the set and props finished and in place. My colleague, Peg Cleveland, combines two qualities in perfect proportion – crisp efficiency with joyous affection – and both qualities will come in handy as we make our way through the next couple of hours.
5:10 p.m. – While the cast chows down on Papa John’s Pizza, I sit down for supper with Kathy and my dad and Sonja at Slice, one of our favorite Kenosha restaurants. I’m greeting with the soul-crushing news that my favorite entree on the menu, the Pork Tenderloin, is gone. Sobbing (well, almost sobbing) I settle for the spaghetti & meat balls – and it turns out to be the best I’ve ever had. But beyond the good food, it feels good to just sit, be waited on, and have some quiet time with three people I love very much. That may sound hopelessly goopy, but on a day like today, these few minutes are precious.
6:20 p.m. – I’m back at Carthage to conduct a quick run through of all of the duets and ensembles – and most of the arias – from act one of Cosi. This score is suffused with such personality and with such vivid contrasts of mood. There isn’t a generic page of music in the whole opera – and it has been so fun to watch our students grapple with and ultimately meet its formidable challenges.
8:44 p.m. – The audience is enthusiastically applauding the cast of Cosi. It was great to hear so much laughter from the audience – and not just the somewhat restrained, “heh heh” forced chuckles of laughing because you’re supposed to laugh. There were plenty of genuine laughter that only happens when an audience finds something truly, undeniably funny. The credit for that goes first to stage director Peg Cleveland – who really knows what FUNNY is – and of course to our young singers, who threw themselves into Peg’s concept and Mozart’s delightful score with energy and abandon. As for me, I can only cringe at some of the rougher moments in my playing – and about the moment when the performance essentially came to a brief standstill while I tried to figure out what was next. (Not a moment for the Carthage Opera Hall Of Fame.)
9:25 p.m. – Driving away from campus, I look at the clock and realize that I am too late to catch the end of the Choral Arts Society’s “Locally Grown” concert, devoted entirely to the music of local composers. My Short Requiem is among the works performed, and I so dearly wanted to be there, and even though I knew I couldn’t hear my piece (which was in the first half) I hoped to catch at least a little of the program. But no such luck. So I head to the Racine Theater Guild to hear as much as I can of the opening night performance of Les Miserables.
10:25 p.m. – “ . . . tomorrow COMES!!!!!” I am standing at the back of the Racine Theater Guild auditorium as that final chord thunders through the room, and people are already applauding and beginning to jump to their feet. Our preview audience the night before went crazy, but that was mostly family and friends of the cast – so not exactly an unbiased crowd (although the vast majority of them know quite a lot about live theater.) So it is truly thrilling to witness such an overwhelming ovation tonight. My only regret is that the incredibly devoted crew wasn’t onstage with the cast to share in this ovation, because none of this could happen without them.
11:54 p.m. – I finally get home from the Guild to find Kathy, dad and Sonja sitting around the kitchen table. I am very grateful for how patiently they listen to me as I revel in the day’s many joys and also while I blow off some steam over certain frustrations. As this amazing day comes to an end, I am profoundly aware of how good it feels to share the day with them and of how it would have been just a busy day – rather than a rich day – without them and their loving interest and concern.
1:05 a.m. – My head hits the pillow. Tiredly. Thankfully.
pictured above: This is one of my favorite photos of our beloved Ellie. I thought that rather than choose one moment from the day to highlight (Cosi vs. Les Miz vs. Tremper vs. the funeral vs. dinner with family) I would choose a photo depicting peaceful slumber.