This evening was the first rehersal for University Chorus. The concert will be on December 10th at 8 PM, feel free to mark your calendars.

I was apprehensive, as I've not read music in several years, nor performed outside the shower. I got to the rehersal room, was surprised to see a friend I didn't know sang, and was pleased at the large number of other men there.

When we started, I initially decided I was going to be quiet and follow along until I recovered my musical chops. I abandoned that plan after 30 seconds, the time it took me to realize that no one in the bass section had any chops whatsoever. Sure, it's a non-audition, open-to-the-community choir, but I've been in it some years where we were really excellent. I was with a subset of the choir that sang in Carnegie Frelling Hall. This year? Not good.

So I sang out lustily, to give the others someone to follow. I did OK I think, except for some reason I am currently incapable of producing an ascending fourth interval. That is not a skill I expected to have lost. It caused me much embarassment as I led the section off-track, but hell, when I tried not leading them off-track, no one lead them at all, and the other guys mumbled themselves into silence. I believe in being wrong loudly and proudly, rather than being to scared to step up.

But hey, don't let my criticism discourage you! We've got a good conductor, I am confident he'll whip us into shape by the time December 10th rolls around.

In non-choir related news, I have now purchased all but one of the books I'll need this semester. The sum total was $512, exactly $32 per credit hour. When I break it down that way, I feel less depressed about it.

Amusingly, at the bookstore, a clerk came and offered to give me a hand. We fell to conversing, and it turned out he is a freshman planning on being a history major. He helped me grab the ten books required for one particular class, then became distressed when he realized that all ten books were, in fact, for a single class. I assured him that one learns to read them faster with practice. He still looked a little nervous as I left.

UPDATE: The new GI Bill contains a book stipend, currently worth $41.67 per credit hour. I'm coming out ahead on books, woo hoo!

Posted by: Boviate at 10:14 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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