Wolf Trap Opera Company: A Day in the Life

What all fashionable denizens of the Underworld are wearing these days.

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Friday, 6/23/06

9:15am: Emails
Calm, reassuringly boring start to the day, spent answering correspondence. What did we do before we had email? Did we talk to people on the phone? Did we remember any of what we said?

11:15am: Costume load-in
Costume rentals for Figaro arriving. Since our shop is full of Ory and Orpheus costumes at the moment, this meant that the administrative staff (me, the Program Coordinator, and our intern) retrieved the costumes and put them in temporary storage.

12:30pm: Grants meeting
Brainstorming about upcoming grant applications for the opera company and for our chamber music radio series (Center Stage from Wolf Trap).

1:00pm: Lunch.
Wendy's take-out, dripping all over notes for my comments for tomorrow afternoon's company concert.

2:15pm: Rehearsal
...for "What A Movie" segment for tomorrow's concert. Hawai'ian shirts and leis.

3:00pm: More prep for tomorrow's concert.
Find tenor aria from Koenigin von Saba. Sketch in some more remarks. Try to find my chops...

4:15pm: Scheduling
Wrestle some of next week's scheduling issues to the ground. Too many people in too few places for too few hours. Gridlock.

5:00pm: Rehearsals for tomorrow's concert.
Actually, that's an overstatement. We just sort of sing/play through the arias to feel better about having said we were rehearsing them...

5:45pm: Inside the Opera prep
Set up audio and powerpoint for tonight's pre-show talk.

6:00pm: Meeting with NEA site visitor.
Was supposed to be over dinner, but there was too much to cover. Gazed longingly at the food.

7:00pm: Inside the Opera pre-show talk.
Didn't get asked too many questions that I couldn't answer.

7:50pm: Dinner?
Looped back to find the lovely sandwiches and salad that we didn't get to eat earlier. Gone!! (Discovered later over at the theatre, thanks goodness!)
8:00pm: Orpheus performance #3.

11:20pm: Set the theatre
...for tomorrow's company concert for the Wolf Trap Associates.

11:30pm: Practice.
Has anyone seen my chops?

1:00am
Home

Concert for the Wolf Trap Associates

Always a lovely event. Receptive, enthusiastic, warm audience. Each of our singers gets to perform an aria/song of his/her choice. Today's menu:

O mio babbino caro
Nobles Seigneurs, salut
Ah, Pescator

Klänge der Heimat
Magische Töne

Jeremy Little, tenor
Nandi's Love Song
In quegli anni

Se vuol ballare

Que les destins prosperes
Von ewiger Liebe

Sein wir wieder gut
Donde lieta

È sogno
Ain’t It a Pretty Night?

Silver Aria

Shenandoah
Ah, lêve-toi, soleil
What a Movie!

It's always a privilege for me to sit at the piano and make music with each year's group of artists, and this afternoon was a highlight of the summer. Group photo of this year's fabulous group ensemble: