A Day Off

[Mark Graham]

A day off can work out fine. When I took the position at this college --
which, I should say, is a contracted position; I am not an employee -- I
had some doubts, because I observe a sabbath from Friday sunset to
Saturday sunset (which I only mention because it is relevant to the
topic). It has necessitated planning, but in six years there have been no
problems. We have six to eight recitals per weekend usually. One of our
secretaries keeps a very up-to-date calendar of recitals and locations, so
there are no surprises. (I'm surprised to hear from some of you that you
find out about recitals the day before. Intending no personal criticism,
but it saves me grief if I keep track of the recitals myself. Possibly
your school has a different system -- here it is possible.)

This year, I have also trained two students to be able to take care of
some emergencies, for example, one out-of-tune unison. But I haven't had
to use them. One thing that helps is that we do have two D's available on
one stage, so there is a backup.

The only time I have run into trouble is when a recital is not in our
music complex, but in the chapel or the theater department or another
location. 

You have to go home sometime, Avery, so don't feel the least bit guilty.
Or, as I tell our director, you do want your tuner to have a good
temperament, don't you?

Mark Graham
Baldwin-Wallace Conservatory of Music
Berea, Ohio