The past two weeks have come off very sucessfully, I am pleased to report. I will continue to be busy for about one more week, but without the pressure of the last two weeks.
Monday, our concert went well. We were very fortunate that another choir director from the district, along with a hired accompanist came in the day of the concert and conducted it. That way, once the school day was over and the stage was set, I was able to give the Orchestra my full attention.
The morning after the concert, on very little sleep, I took a small group of players over to the Administration building to play music during the pre-meeting breakfast of the Katy Area Economic Advisory. The kids enjoyed being out of class a few periods, and we just played simple arragements of familiar tunes. A low pressure gig for all involved, and great community exposure for our program!
Thursday, I spent the whole day as choir director. The choir parents put on a Faculty Appreciation Luncheon each year. The boosters buy turkeys and hams, and all the kids bring desserts and side dishes and put out the spread in a gym. All the teachers come down during their lunch periods to eat, and while eating they're serenaded by various choir students and soloists.
The choirs did alright considering it was a few days after their concert, they had no conductor (I was the piano slave all day long) and in a gym with people talking throughout, but the teachers loved being fed, and the food was great, a good time was had by all.
Last night I had the honor of having very distinguished company in my home.
Tony Cason is the Orchestra Director at Pepperdine. He comes to Texas to recruit players a few times per year, and once a year comes through Houston to visit some of the larger programs in the Houston area.
The national trend of all expense budgets shrinking has made it to Pepperdine. In order to continue his efforts to find quality players for the school, but also save the school some money, he's stayed with various friends in the different cities he has visited.
Exhausted as I was, I worked some on Tuesday night, and then stayed up LATE Wednesday night cleaning. I hadn't had an ounce of time to clean in several weeks, so this would have been needed even if there was no specific occasion, but all the more reason since a Colonel from the U.S. Military was coming as my guest.
We ate at an amazing Barbecue place in Houston called
Beaver's Barbecue I've only eaten there with Mr. Cason, because last year when he came he'd read about it as one of the "Top 10 Places to Eat in the U.S." and wanted to try it. It's every bit as good as I remember it being last year.
I really enjoyed visiting with Mr. Cason, and was flattered that he came to stay at my apartment. We visited late into the night so that I feel all caught up on the latest goings-on of the Pepperdine Orchestra/Choir/Theater. I've never regretted the decision to transfer to North Texas after my freshman year, but I also have never lost my love for Pepperdine, or the relationships that I have with the friends I met there.
What's even better, is that he is a very good advocate in every way a Pepperdine Orchestra Director would need to be. He's a good advocate to the school's administration on behalf of the Orchestra, and a good advocate to the world on behalf of Pepperdine. I'm glad he's there, and I'm glad that after five years he is still encouraged and pushing the program forward.
Next week are final exams here at Kaatty hI(gh) Skewl (I mispell it so that people who search for my school in search engines won't be lead to this blog.)Not much stress for me, but a lot of busy-work. Harder for the students for sure, I just have to stay on top of things so that when tests are taken, they can be graded and submitted quickly.
One week from today I fly to Little Rock with Aunt Jean. We'll be driving out to Searcy to visit Harding and attend Jordan's graduation!
