Shameless self promotion

Every Tuesday night I have three hours of "me time". That's when I have rehearsals for Salt Lake Symphonic Winds. Two hours of rehearsal at Highland High School, plus an hour for the total commute. Steve willingly watches the kids because he wants me to keep playing my clarinet. It's a good thing to have his support too because sometimes I really feel like it's not worth the effort, but he's very encouraging.

It does take some doing to pull it off. Rehearsals start at 6:30 pm, it takes at least 30 minutes for me to get there, and Steve doesn't get home until 5:30. So on Tuesdays I try to have dinner ready right at 5:30. Sometimes I eat before he even gets home because I need to be out the door by 5:45 to make it there in time to assemble my clarinet and warm-up. It gets pretty frantic sometimes.

That other thing that makes it hard sometimes is the lack of time that I have for practicing. Actually, let me rephrase that. It's not so much a lack of time as it is a lack of venue and privacy. If the boys are here, they come from all corners of the house as soon as they hear the sound of the clarinet. Then they want to push the buttons, and blow in the mouthpiece, etc. If I wait until Kevin's in preschool and the twins are asleep, I don't dare play because of the risk of waking them up. Plus, that's when I exercise. So at some point I'll figure out how to practice more.

But despite my lack of practice it is really fun to play with a group of almost professional musicians. My college band director is the conductor, my high school band teacher plays in the group, as well as my former clarinet teacher. I sit way in the back of the 3rd clarinet section but it's still nice to be able to play. We just played a concert at the Rose Wagner Performing Arts Center downtown with Utah Premiere Brass. Our next concert is at the Assembly Hall on Temple Square. Usually all of our concerts are on Tuesday nights just like our rehearsals, but the one at the assembly hall is on Saturday, March 14. It's rare that we actually have a concert on a weekend. So if anyone wants to come to a free concert, you're certainly invited. Is it considered bad taste to advertise for a concert on my blog? Too bad, I just did it.

This is at a concert several years ago, I think. I can't quite remember when. Nice look on my face right? Keith (sitting next to me) is retired but when he isn't travelling, he's playing with us.