Klarinet Archive - Posting 000621.txt from 1998/11

From: "Brent Eresman" <Beresman@-----.com>
Subj: [kl] Re: clarinet playing and fever
Date: Tue, 17 Nov 1998 14:03:44 -0500

Jacqueline Eastwood wrote:

> I have yet to be hit by a bus on my
> way to a performance (knock on wood!) but I have no idea what would happen
> if I just didn't show up! Would they try to find a sub? What about
> getting the music? I'm curious if anyone has experienced anything like
> this (hopefully not under tragic circumstances; merely unavoidable ones
> like some woman player going into labor or something!). Any stories out
> there?
>
I've not had to bail on a performance, but i've been on the other
side of that coin--i got a phone call at about six one Saturday
evening from a friend, who plays second clarinet with the local
regional orchestra. He was coming down with something which wouldn't
allow him to even stand, much less play or drive to a concert--which
was at eight that night, in a town about an hour and a half away.
Would i play for him? I answered yes, he told me where it was (a
high school auditorium in that town), i got dressed and jumped in
the car with my clarinet, and left.

When i got to the school on the outskirts of town (with plenty of
time, i thought), i found it to be locked and dark. I hunted around
for a pay phone and called my friend (who sounded absolutely
miserable) who said he thought he remembered them playing once in a
hall somewhere near the middle of town. That's all he could
remember. I went down into town and hunted around. I figured that i
might see people dressed up going somewhere, which would hopefully be
the concert. Sure enough, i spotted some folks, who were indeed
going to the concert and told me how to find the place.

I got into the building five minutes before the concert began and
then got to sight read the concert. I think i started producing
saliva again about the middle of the second piece. There wasn't
anything terribly demanding (i do remember that reading the C
clarinet part of Brahms 4th was a bit taxing), for which i was
grateful.

My friend did get better, so all's well that ends well, i suppose.
I appreciate every opportunity to play, and would like to play more;
however, i'm glad that it's not usually quite like that.

Brent Eresman
beresman@-----.com

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