Singing for my supper

I find transitions are always popping up to be negotiated both as a parent and as a singer. Moving from one phase to the next, from one place to another, from musical style to style, from supporting role to lead, from one group of people to a completely different cast sometimes in as little as a matter of hours, not to mention the scheduling variations (and conflicts!) as one switches worlds between the domestic tranquility (?!!!) of motherhood and the sometimes emotional hurly-burly of performing. This autumn is shaping up to have some previously unencountered adjustments to navigate. My own schedule and expectations were so badly derailed by external forces earlier this year that I was forced to transition into what felt like a completely different lifestyle than I have experienced in a long, long time: instead of bound by external schedules and commitments, I was pretty much completely on my own timetable for the first time in many, many years. Sure I had plenty to do, but it was...

Three auditions. End of semester recitals and exams. Sick kid. Holiday concerts (husband's, child's, students' and my own) No matter how carefully I prepare for the two weeks after Thanksgiving, they always catch me by surprise. To my delight, two more auditions came in for this period (the third one was scheduled weeks ago); this is historically ALWAYS the busy time, but so many companies have changed their plans for this year I wasn't really expecting much, so these are great news (even if one of them is at 10.30 in the morning!) The wrench in the works, starting today, is the sick daughter, but - for once! - she played it smart and stayed home, warm and quiet so here's hoping she'll recover quickly and won't need time off school this week. Just crossing all fingers I don't catch it. Every parent hates seeing their kid sick, but because her sniffles so often seem to coincide with my busy times (why IS that?!)when I must do everything in my power ...

So here we are at the end of the first week. Today is the production day off - no rehearsals, that is - but the cast members have been asked to sing at a development function, so it's kind of a performance day, really, even though we're officially off the clock. The challenge in this for me is that I've hit spring for the second time this year since the Midwest is about 3 weeks behind the East coast temperature-wise. Thus, I am fighting my truly dreadful tree-pollen allergies for the SECOND time this year! But figuring out how to sing under less-than-optimum physical conditions is part of the deal as a professional singer, and you just find a way somehow. It requires more concentration and can be a bit nervewracking when you can't entirely trust what your instrument is going to do, but... we cope! It helps that this group of singers and the administration here are delightful as well as supportive, and thus there isn't that sense of tacit "judgement" ...