Zzzzz

This week I'm fortunate to have been asked to participate in the Utah Symphony's final concert of their regular season. The big piece on the program is Mahler's 1st Symphony on which I'm playing 5th trumpet. This part is pretty minor. I come in doubling the horns for the last couple minutes of the 4th movement. Despite this, the conductor Carlo Rizzi never specified a rehearsal schedule, so my time at Abravanel Hall these last couple days has included much waiting around. If you look to the left of the 4th trumpeter in this photo, you'll see the chair I'll fill during the concerts this Friday and Saturday. I took this picture from the balcony after I'd finished my part today.

Fortunately, I'd made it to the library before the first rehearsal yesterday and armed myself with a good book: "Infidel" by Ayaan Hirsi Ali. It is Ali's autobiographical telling of her youth as an Islamic girl in Somalia, Saudi Arabia, Ethiopia, and Kenya and her eventual escape from a forced marriage to an independent life in Europe and later the US. I'm still early on in the book, but her story is riveting.

Today, I had been hired for two back-to-back rehearsals at the USO, but Rizzi got my part out of the way first thing this morning and I was able to head home. I always love to play (particularly with such a great group) and may have stuck around and listened for a while if it weren't for the nasty cold I've come down with. Instead, I went home, ate lunch, and curled up on the couch to read my book and catch up on some badly needed rest.

Until today, my schedule this week has made it impossible for me to get my usual daily nap. When I got to Cannonball this morning, I was completely unable to engrave effectively. Between my nose running constantly and my eyelids wanting to close by themselves, I realized it was a lost cause. I wrote Ryan a note of apology for not being able to help him with more horns and drove home to get an additional couple hours of shut eye before the 9:30 am rehearsal.

I've got another graduation to play tonight and I still feel pretty crummy, but at least I've caught up on my sleep.