I’m amazed by opera singers. They have to do an awful lot at once. I play one note at a time. With music in front of me. And I don’t walk around, fall, or die while I play. (Well, not yet anyway!)

Opera singers have a difficult job. They have to remember the words and the music and the timing, where you go onstage and what’s happening with the costume. They have to be watching the conductor. They have to be giving everything to the audience. There are all these cognitive functions going on and when something goes out of whack, the words and the timing are the first things to go.

The conductor can’t say anything audible (to the singer) because the conductor is 30 feet away. But the prompter is right there. So if they’re singing and you forgot a word, they look right down at the prompter. They see me, center stage in the footlights, and help is there. It’s a very quick communication.

RTWT. It’s a fun little read.