Klarinet Archive - Posting 000657.txt from 1999/08

From: Stephen Heinemann <sjh@-----.edu>
Subj: [kl] Audience distractions, with a wrinkle
Date: Tue, 24 Aug 1999 02:39:33 -0400

I had a very unusual experience with this a few years ago. I'd be
interested to know what klarinet readers would have done in this same
situation:

I was giving a faculty recital and quickly became aware that one of the
audience members was a student (_not_ a musician) who suffered from
Tourette's Syndrome, a rare disorder that in extreme cases can cause the
sufferer involuntarily to bark or swear loudly and frequently. This
student's was one such extreme case.

On the one hand, I had spent a lot of time preparing and had reasonable
expectations about how the recital would be received; it was being
recorded for future broadcast on our NPR station; a guest composer would
certainly hear a quite different version of his clarinet piece than he had
expected; the audience members would certainly remember nothing about the
concert except the Tourette's.

On the other hand, the student was taking music appreciation and
fulfilling a minimum recital attendance requirement (so if my recital
hadn't been affected, another would have); Tourette's Syndrome is a
disability fully and correctly covered under the Americans with
Disabilities Act; the student was understandably wary of receiving
"special" treatment, such as invitations to private performances or
dress rehearsals in lieu of the actual concert experience.

OK, you have to decide how to handle the situation NOW! What do you do?
I'll tell you what happened a day or two from now. Then I'll tell the
fascinating tale about when I was reading names at graduation last May
in front of 10,000 people and one of the students handed me his name-card
with the words "Homer J. Simpson" printed on it.

Steve Heinemann
Bradley University
sjh@-----.edu

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