Concert Load

[Avery Todd]

Conrad,

>At 07:55 04/17/2002 -0500, you wrote:
>>Just curious. We "only" have 28 recitals/concerts scheduled
>>from April 15 - April 21 and all but three will use a piano
>>and all will get a complete tuning or perhaps a very thorough
>>'touch-up'.
>
>I must be part-time.  I've only got 17, including a student pipe 
>organ recital.

But I'll bet you get a much higher percentage of your instruments
tuned and/or worked on than I do. I have 135 pianos but with that kind
of concert load (thankfully not ALL semester), there are pianos which
don't get tuned as often as I'd like.

>>Less than 2 weeks of classes left! After juries are over, I
>>think I'm going to take a week off just to "unstress" some.
>
>Must be nice...  our exams don't end until May 22, then it's bulk 
>tuning before summer music camps, which end just in time for me to 
>pack to go to Chicago.

That's sort of what my June load is. It's called the Texas Music Festival
and there are students here from all over the world who've auditioned
mostly by tape. The orchestra is resident the entire month with each week
being a different instrument emphasis, i.e. band week, piano week, Jazz
camp, etc. With the string players, there's also a heavy emphasis on
Chamber Music, as there is year-round here. The festival string players
are required to do it.

There's an orchestra concert here and at A & M every week and weekly
faculty and student recitals. This year, they're having 2 guest pianists
come in for concertos with the orchestra. That's the main reason I can't
go to the convention. One of the concertos is the last week of June.

>>Then the work starts to get ready for all the summer stuff.
>>Unlike Wim's school, ours doesn't virtually shut down for
>>the summer. :-)
>
>sam ting hear.  somebody covers for me for the opera workshop which 
>lasts through July, then it's bulk tuning in August.........

My 'bulk' tuning before each semester consists mainly of the piano 
major practice rooms (lease pianos), classrooms, string and voice 
professors who
use their piano the most and then I do what I have time for with the 
other grands. Everything else is pretty much staggered throughout the 
year. With
135 pianos, even at 4 a day, it would take me 33.75 work days to tune all
of them. By then, some are already past due for another tuning.

But I still love the work and my job. We're just experiencing serious
growing pains right now but it'll eventually be worked out. I've just got
to watch that I don't get burned out because of the load and the stress!

The first thing that's got to be worked out is me having at least one day
a week I can COUNT on having off. Probably over half of each semester,
I'm here tuning at least one or two every Saturday and Sunday. I'm getting
to the age when I just can't be on call 7 days a week! Don't want to 
be, either.

Sorry about the length. This is just something that's been on my mind a
lot lately and I guess I'm just venting a little with people who I know
will understand.

Regards,
Avery

>Conrad Hoffsommer - mailto:hoffsoco@luther.edu
>
>College: The place where you have three options--to sleep, to study, 
>or to party - but only get to pick two per semester.