Work, work, work�

While the printer busily prints away (10 more pages of score, thank you) I take a respite to update my diary. The warmth and sunshine are gone, as I predicted, and the weatherman is forecasting 20 cm. of snow overnight. That�s approximately 8" for you folks who have not yet seen the light and switched over to the metric system. Winter is not yet done in this part of the world.

I copied more music before leaving for work this morning, remembering on my way out the door that it was Wednesday--garbage and recycling pickup day--and ran around like a mad elf, emptying the garbage cans and putting the recyclables in the green box. This left me five minutes to get to the university to teach my first lesson at 11:00. I sprinted from my parking spot above the library, dumped my knapsack in the studio, ran back to the office to hang up my coat, and then rushed back to the studio and tried to warm up my voice, huffing and puffing the while. Luckily for me, my baritone was a little late. He had also forgotten his music, so he went to the office to photocopy the piece he�s learning, which gave me enough time to finish my warmup. We�re working on an aria from Mendelssohn�s Elijah, and he is really pumped about it. I believe in giving my students music that is a little too difficult for them. It teaches them humility, as well as all the other things they have to learn to actually sing the damn piece.

My 12:00 soprano, who had not had a lesson in two weeks due to illness, was feeling much better, but had regressed a bit since the last time we met. We went over the same concepts and exercises today we did last time, and lo! she is starting to get it; it is starting to make sense to her. This girl has a phenomenal voice, but started studying too early, before she was fully mature vocally (16 for girls), and actually sang alto during her early years as a chorister. There�s an incredible amount of tension in her jaw and tongue, and I am trying so hard to get her to relax, to allow the breath to carry the voice, and today I think she finally got it. As I explained to her, we have years to go, don�t expect to get it all at once or for it to stick right away. But this is very encouraging.

Then I burnt the roof of my mouth on spinach and tofu soup over at the cafeteria, checked my email, shot off a couple of letters to the part-time profs� union rep, and headed over to the sports plex for my physiotherapy session. Nathalie determined that my right lateral muscle is tight, and it is the subscapularis tendon that is afflicted. She gave me some exercises to do to stretch out my side, applied ultrasound and electric pulse treatments to my shoulder, and finished by freezing it with ice. I still have to ice it three times a day as well. So, hopefully I will be cured someday.

The printer is done, and the next page beckons.

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