Image Credit: Alastair Muir

A Good Rehearsal Prank to Play if You Are a Zombie

So I was at rehearsal the other night, rehearsing my death scene (as one does if one is in an opera), and I decided that it was time for a good prank. Death scenes are such downers, and we needed to lighten the mood, especially after hours and hours of tiring rehearsal. So when I […]

Is Any Price Too Great To Pay?

Full disclosure: I have not seen the movie Whiplash. It’s on my list, but I haven’t seen it. What I have seen is the conversation that this movie has started about art, excellence, methods, and abuse. This is an important conversation to have, and it is one that I have been afraid to have for many years. […]

A Close Call With a Large Truck

The roads were bad when I dropped Ruby off at climbing, and they were worse when I drove to my rehearsal.  By the time I got out and prepared to make my way home, the snow, ice, sleet, hail, and general slush falling from the sky had made them almost impassable.  I pulled my hood […]

Driving to Rehearsal With My Foot in My Lap

Last night, as I was preparing to head out to a rehearsal almost an hour’s drive away, I stepped onto a toy, wrapped in a blanket, and shrouded in laundry.  It was a sharp and pointy gem of some sort, and I have lightly stepped onto one of them before to my great pain and […]

Why We Don’t Bring 4-Year-Olds to Rehearsals

I have a rehearsal this morning.  Next month I am going to be singing the full Britten Serenade for Tenor, Horn, and Strings, of which did I did a portion last November, and it requires some serious rehearsal.  This is not a piece for the casual Tenor Dad.  And since Edward’s preschool ended last week, […]