I have the first of our two open dress rehearsals today. It begins at 11:30, so I’m pretty much ready to go. (I’m even dressed nicely; I am going disguised as a flutist today! 😉 The drive is only 7 minutes away. So I sit here, and I get apprehensive. This is the part of the day that drives me nuts; just a little too early to leave, but not enough time to do anything else. So I wind up getting nervous, which is entirely silly since we are playing something I know and we are playing for a hall full of what will probably be school kids. (Yeah, they come to see these happy little operas like Rigoletto.)

Still, I get nervous no matter what, it seems.

Believe me, a lot of us don’t get nervous because of the audience. We get nervous because of our colleagues. They are the ones who really know if we are doing well or not. At least that’s the way it is for this now somewhat anxious oboe player.