76 Trombones

A tale of the trials and joys of musicians:

I enjoyed an evening of rejoining my alma mater for their yearly fall band concert. There is a new band director this year. He also is part time admissions so he talked me into playing. When he first asked my response was, "Who told you I play the clarinet?" In the end, I agreed to play. Well, after several practices with the band, I realized that I had played all but one piece before, when I was an SC band member. At the rehearsal, my clarinet began to have difficulty playing a B, C, and D. Very important notes on the clarinet. They just wouldn't come out. After further inspection, I discovered that I my dear precious clarinet (that I bought in 1994), was missing a pad. I tried to fix it with a piece of flannel but that didn't work. So, I marched myself into the band director office the day of the concert and told him my problem. He helped me find another clarinet to play for the concert. It was a very nice clarinet and it crossed my mind to switch them out but I am too ethical for that! :) So, I played in the concert last night. When it was over, I took a program and scanned for my name. Hmm, wasn't in the clarinet section . . . wasn't in the bass clarinet section . . . hmm, trumpts? Surely not! I have never played the trumpet in my life. So, my name was in the trumpet section. Not only was it misplaced it was also spelled Schecter. Ah! Anyway, that was one of many mistakes on the program. Also, the concert started at 7:00 p.m. It was in the gymnasium at the high school, so I could search the crowd. 7:01 - no Andrew, "Hmm, where is he? Of course, he had to walk so it could take him a while." 7:15 - still no Andrew, "Oh well, maybe he forgot." No, my poor poor husband had to walk in the cold (only one car) and walked all the way to Culbertson auditorium at the college only to discover it was empty. He found out where the concert was and walked over to the gym. To my defense, I am certain that I mentioned where the concert was at! It just goes to show you that you should always listen to your wife!!! :) Anyway, it was fun to play and many of my friends are still in the band so it made for an enjoyable evening.