Employment

In this economy, it's good to have it and hold onto it! I'm always hearing about lay-offs and companies with no money... Fortunately for me, it looks like next year I'll still have Little Red School House, Buckley School (with a brand new Mason & Hamlin), Opus 118, and my private students. Buckley and Little Red are now off for the Summer, though I'm accompanying for a musical theater workshop for a month through Little Red, at The Players' Theater.



The latest addition to my work schedule is now playing for services at the Episcopal Church of The Redeemer, in Astoria. So far I've played two Sundays. The first one was very stressful - the singer, Lexi, and I had about 15 minutes to go through as much of the service as we could, then we had to just dive in. Fortunately, she knew the service very well and gave me cues of what to play and when. As soon as we finished, the drummer and bass player arrived. Martin, the bassist took me through the music for the second, contemporary Spanish-language service, and once again, it was time to dive in. It was also a bit stressful, but Martin guided me through it well.

The second week, we had a substitute singer for the first service, so my guide was gone, and it showed. It was a little early to expect me to guide someone else through the service. I expected to get the same help I'd had the week before. Again, very stressful. I'm hoping this Sunday is a little easier! The rector is a Cuban who says what's on his mind without any sugar-coating. (In my defense, I was late for the Agnus Dei last week because he completely skipped the Lord's Prayer! I didn't think it was wise to point that out, though, so I kept quiet and let him rant a little.) The nice thing is that it is a steady paycheck and it's a short 10 or 15-minute walk from Todd's place!