Too many recitals.

I had a sort of boyfriend whose birthday is today. Hmm. Interesting. Anyway, sorry, I’ve had a beer and I’m easily distracted. It’s recital season at the music department, as you’ve probably figured by now. I didn’t make it to the piano recital this afternoon (this was one of Vlad’s students, and she said it went all right) as I accompanied my daughter to the Rock for Environmental Awareness event that normally happens outside at this time of year, but because there is still snow all over the place was relegated to the hall of St. George’s church in town. It actually turned out to be a pretty good venue for the event, and I stayed for a couple of hours before leaving in the middle of a drum circle that threatened to go on for the next day and a half.

I came home, made a delicious supper (barbecued shark steaks with lemon pepper, brown rice and a salad, topped off with fresh pineapple at the peak of ripeness) before dashing off to yet another recital, this one a concert of broadway tunes sung by the girl who did all the choreography for the choir show. She’s not a great singer, and she’s not my student, which says worlds already, but she has great enthusiasm and performs well and managed to pull it off. She got away with doing this programme because she turned it into a “special project”, as opposed to an honours graduation recital.

This was followed shortly by Little Princess’ friend Ed performing his honours graduation recital, a misnomer if ever there was one because he should never have been in this course at all. You see, in order to be a music major, one has to take two whole years of music theory. He dropped out of second year theory sometime during first term. But he was already enrolled in the recital course and didn’t change it to a more fitting course number. This can all be blamed on his teacher, none other than Vlad, who was insistent that he do a recital in the first place, and he doesn’t have the nerve to stand up to her.

So, he did this show, performing music not of his own choosing (he told me afterwards that he had had a great idea for a programme, pairing sacred music from oratorio and actual liturgy with profane [like Mephistopheles arias from Faust] and building a concert of contrasts) and did a not-bad job, but it seemed to me that he was extremely angry the whole time.

Anyway, afterwards we all went back to St. George’s church, but it was so loud that I asked Ed if he would like to go to the Lion with me for a beer instead. He doesn’t dring alcoholic beverages, so I bought him a ginger ale and I had a pint of their home brew and we talked. I think he realized about six months ago that he should have switched singing teachers, but he was too anxious not to hurt Vlad’s feelings to actually do it. But now he has no obligations to her at all, and it looks I might get a chance to fix some of his problems.

Now, on a tangentially related note, remember last fall when I was given a student who promptly left me for the other teacher after her first lesson? Remember that my other student who was continuing with me from last year also left for the other teacher after her first lesson? Remember how upset I was? Well, it finally occurred to me that I was royally shafted yet again. There is an exchange student from Oregon who was here just for this semester and I found out quite late in the term was studying with the other teacher. Tonight I asked her if she had requested this teacher or if she had been assigned, and she told me it was the latter. You see, I should have been the next person in the rotation, this girl should have been studying with me. Now I’m really pissed. My dean and union rep are getting an email from me very soon. You know that persecution complex I have? I think there’s probably a good reason for it.

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