SassyBlonde

Tonight I got taken to dinner by one of my all-time idols. If you were ever to ask me what the one job is that I want more than anything in the world, I would tell you this man's job, hands down.

Before we left for the tour, The Maestro asked if I would like to come to dinner with him and his old college roommate on this particular date, as his old roommate is a clarinetist in a famous opera orchestra and TM thought I might like to meet him. Of course I agreed, and the wheels began to spin in my mind as soon as I hung up the phone. The Maestro made sure to remind me before today's first concert that this was a very clear house to play in, that every part of everything we played could be heard clearly, and to remember who was in the audience. Thanks for the vote of confidence, I thought, but it ended up being a wonderful head-up, because I played that book about as well as I've ever played it before, and was really satisfied with myself when I walked into his dressing room to meet him for dinner. His friend was there and introductions were made, compliments were paid (*squee!*) and we left to eat at a little restaurant down the street.

It's always hard for me to meet people I really, truly admire, because I start to wax a little blonde from excitement, but this time I have to say I did a really good job. I was calm, and funny, we had a lot of laughs and I got ribbed a lot for being half their age. It's also hard because you never know how that person will react to you and if your expectations will be met or smashed-- he met them in spades and more. Of course, they reminisced and told old war stories from the musical trenches, but what was really neat was how this guy went out of his way to keep me in the conversation and direct it so that I wasn't left out. He asked me about where I played and with whom, we commented and reminisced about shared acquaintances, old teachers, and even talked about playing techniques and I found out I knew how to do something he wanted to learn, so he told TM to give me his contact info so I could send it to him when I got home. (*double squee!*) He also was very complimentary of the woodwind section in general (go girls, go) and a great time was had all around.

I walked in the stage door through the clouds of cigarette smoke grinning from ear to ear, and when someone asked me how it went, I answered emphatically, "That was worth every bed bug."