Concert Load

[David M. Porritt]

Avery:

I think you're going to have to be candid with your leaders.  Surely
they are smart enough to know you can't work 7 days a week.  I know
the problem in academia is that many of the teachers do work 7 days a
week during the school year, but then they get long breaks between
semesters.  You on the other hand have to keep trucking 12 months a
year.  I think they can understand this.  I do perceive that you have
been the "nice guy" for long enough that now this is what they
expect.  That's an easy trap to get into for someone who wants to do
a good job, yet we shouldn't make wanting to do a good job be the
cause of ruining our health.

dave

*********** REPLY SEPARATOR  ***********

On 4/17/02 at 10:04 AM Avery Todd wrote:

>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.


_____________________________
David M. Porritt
dporritt@mail.smu.edu
Meadows School of the Arts
Southern Methodist University
Dallas, TX 75275
_____________________________