Just returned from my first full day of rehearsal. Last night went well, and despite the slightly frantic energy of touching down at 4:45 and making it to the theater (a little early!) for a 7p rehearsal, I was feeling well. I met with just the principals and read thru the piece cover to cover, stopping for a few things but mostly trying to just set a framework for our further music rehearsals this week. And I finished the last note at 10p on the dot – booyah.

Today our first rehearsal was at 2p, so I spent the morning sitting out in the garden studying the rep for my upcoming subscription series with the North Carolina Symphony (Bach, Mendelssohn, Schumann).

The best surprise of the day was this evening, when I saw the chorus for the first time. As a whole the group is quite good and VERY well prepared. But the children’s chorus, oh my. What an amazing bunch of young people, all 40 of them! I can honestly say that I’ve never heard such a great children’s chorus outside of a major house. They know the material inside and out, always remember to sing even when they don’t get a cue (if I’m a little tied up elsewhere) and sound glorious. And to top it all of, they’re the sweetest group of kids.

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