Playing for the WNBA

There is a professional opera singer in our stake. Not famous. She is young and in the process of following her husband around as his career begins but she is good enough to be. She sang at Evening of the Arts, and a solo at Stake Conference. She's just one of those singers that you can't help but ask to sing at every opportunity because she is so much better than your average stake choir member. It would be a terrible waste not to use her talent. She is that good. Best of all, she doesn't act like it.

She called me yesterday and told me that her husband was offered a much better job in Iowa and they were moving in two weeks. I told her it was a huge loss to our little corner of the world but that I was excited for her. She was calling to ask if I was an alto and if I'd be interested in singing Bach's Magnificat and Vivaldi's Dixit Dominus. I enthusiastically responded, "yes!" Due to her move, she was going to be unable to participate but had committed to be part of a choir in the upcoming Bach Festival and needed to find her replacement as the concert is only two weeks away and the choir is small (20 singers - four on each part). She told me the schedule (Jay is out of town the ENTIRE week of practice and of course for the concert) but I still said, "yup...I'd love to". She told me she'd let so and so know and that she had the music...I could come by and pick it up...etc....etc.

After she called, I wondered if I had made a foolish decision. A whole week of babysitters. I have my financial peace class I'd miss. But I haven't sung in a "real" choir for a long time and it felt like an opportunity too rare to pass up.

A few hours later, my tune changed as I received a phone call from the woman in charge of putting the choir together. As soon as the conversation started, I realized she was annoyed at this entire change and wasn't about to have some stay-at-home-mom wannabe ruin her choir. Those were her words. "I'm not looking for some mom who likes to sing." She told me that I'd have to audition and see if I had the right tone, skill and ability to match the conductor's preference (I guess he's some big wig in the conducting world). Suddenly feeling very inept, I readily admitted to being an amateur and no where near the caliber of my friend. She asked me to come to her office at the college where she teaches voice the next day (today) and sing a part of the Bach piece. Not just any part though. The hardest part. She wanted to know how I handled these unbelievably rapid sixteenth notes. If I couldn't do that part then it just wouldn't work out.

I went and picked up the music yesterday and asked my friend for some advice. She hadn't learned the section this woman wanted me to perform so didn't have any help for me. I took the music and came home to start learning it.

Holy cow. It is hard. It is harder than anything I have ever sung. It is fast and my voice is really out of shape. This is not "sing at a dinner party" kind of music. I went over it and over it but pretty much knew that I was not up to the task.

Part of the five measures she wanted me to sing.

Fecit Potentiam

I lamented to my husband and my friends about how embarrassed I was going to be going to this woman and auditioning. Think of it this way. You were the star basketball player on your high school team. You played intramural basketball at college. Now you play pick up games at the stake center every couple of months. A professional basketball team loses one of its players (let's think WNBA - I mean...this is Spokane after all - not New York), and that player suggests someone that plays at the local rec center. The coach scoffs but is desperate and asks that someone to come and try out for the team. (Here, the analogy falls apart a bit because I can't think of a drill that would be the "hardest" for the newbie player to perform. Perhaps dribbling between the legs? Is that hard?)

I practiced a lot last night. I practiced a lot this morning. I drove to her office and waited. When it was time, she called me in and I just stood there while she finished some work on her computer. I'm not quite sure what tone to strike here because I don't want to apologize before I even sing but neither do I want her to expect some opera star.

She walked over to her piano and asked me some questions. What is my musical training? Who have I sung with? (nobody!) etc. etc. Then she just starts with some warm-ups to see what my sound is like. I sing along (just simple scales and such) and can tell that she doesn't think I'm awful. After that she pauses and asks if it was the Fecit Potentiam she had asked me to sing. I assured her it was (before she asks me to sing some other part of the Bach that I haven't looked at) and we have a go.

Amazingly, she took it a little slower than I had been practicing. Slow enough to not stink as much as I had at the faster tempo. She gave me a few pointers and had me do it several times but started using verbs like "when Gunther is here, we will..." and I knew that I was in!

I'm really excited. It'll be a long week with rehearsals every night from Sunday to Thursday and then the performance on Friday (February 16th) but how cool is it that I get to play for the WNBA?!!