Take an umbrella.

Years and years ago, when I sang in a rather large and well-known choir, I seem to recall performing MendeIss0hn’s EIijah. At least, I think we did. I sang with them for three years and we performed a hell of a lot of music, and that must have been one of the pieces. But, regardless, it was at least 31 years ago, so you can understand my faulty memory. In 2003, the university choir paired excerpts from it with Fauré’s Requiem on the same programme, performing it in the chapel so they could take advantage of the Duchess’ mad organ skillz. It rides again, this time we will be performing the entire piece with the local symphony in the big cathedral, which has an organ with which I have sung before.

We had a rehearsal this afternoon and my voice was pretty husky when we were done. I’m still out of shape, and the ragweed allergies are making my throat itchy and sore from the irritation. Not fun. There are a few issues at hand which also irk me. Political issues.

When Hubby and I arrived on these academic shores, the choir was a piddly thing directed by a woman who was not by rights a choral conductor. She played piano passably well and sang in the choir that Mr. Brown directed. One day he handed her the baton and said, “Please take over for me,” and she did, and continued to conduct for the next 10 years or so. She started a children’s choir in the region, accompanied many of the students on their juries (badly, I might add, which was unfortunate for the poor kids trying to sing or play flute or whatever), tried teaching singing (she had a speech impediment that sounded like a hare lip, so I don’t know what she was thinking) and got involved politically where she had no business doing so. Under her guidance, the choir performed a concert of serious music before the Christmas break and more light-hearted fare in the spring. Soloists were always taken from the corps of students (and some community members) unless she was desperate, and then I was called in.

When she retired, or rather when her husband retired from teaching classics at the college next door and they moved to the west coast, Herr Doktor Professor was asked nicely if he would step in and fill the breach. He did so and has been doing so ever since. The Christmas concert continues to be “classical” in nature, and the spring show has turned into a pop music extravaganza. The soloists were auditioned from the choristers.

However, in the past three years, this has been changing, and it all has to do with my nemesis having weaseled her way into a position of authority in the choir itself. The year before last we sang Messiah, and last year the Bach Christmas Oratorio. She was the soprano soloist for both those, and professional soloists were hired for the other voices. As I suspected, she is also the soprano soloist in this year’s production. I don’t know who’s singing the other roles. I am pissed.

Once upon a time the chapel choir was conducted by a student paid through a scholarship. Not any more. Certain people (who shall remain unnamed, but the Duke was one of them) had the job description changed so that she could be hired to do it. She is the “assistant conductor” of the university choir, conducts the chapel choir, and now gets all the plum soprano solo spots. She has a pretty voice, but it is not big enough for the kinds of things she is doing. Somehow she positioned herself and bided her time so that she would start getting these gigs.

What irks me is that the students have lost out on performance opportunities. Sure, they get to belt out pop songs to their hearts’ content in the spring show, but it’s not the same as singing Bach or HandeI or MendeIss0hn with an orchestra. Right? I’m mad as hell and there’s absolutely nothing I can do about it. Not a thing. Nada.

Anyway, it started out beautiful today, warm, sunny, and then it pissed rain. Life is like that. You’re going to get wet, no matter what.

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