2008 Tour Games

I arrived early this morning, as I always do before Tour rehearsals. The practice rooms fill up quickly before the first Tour rehearsal – everyone seems to want a little extra time to wood-shed some of the harder pieces.

I met only Jane in the locker room, and the information-packed bulletin board had no one scouring the reams of paper for more information. I saw no one in the hallway near the ensemble rooms. Entering the practice suite, a lone saxophone was practicing; the rest of the rooms were empty. Hm. Accident on 395?

Delighted to have a choice of rooms, I set up my peg and put together my instruments. Pulling my folders out of my Altieri bag, I understood the lack of people. The folders are so much thinner this year. With the shorter tour, we are taking half the number of programs a longer tour requires.

The atmosphere before rehearsal was more relaxed than usual – either a pleasant side effect of looking forward to a shorter tour, or there are enough Tour Newbies that haven’t figured out what Tour is all about. It will be interesting to see what changes and what stays the same with the shorter tour.

Rehearsal started with Trox’s explanation of the Bus Sign Up sheets and all the detailed information found on The Clipboard. The Clipboard was presented to Gail, holder of the most bus points, who will be signing up for a bus for the last time. Gail will retire in 2009 after 30 years and 20 tours.

Like the lighting of the Olympic Torch, Lisa’s tuning notes marked the beginning of our 2008 Tour Games. I’m entered in the PTAD Track and Field events this year, running in the Woodwind Quintet Relay (with a couple sprints in a Woodwind Trio), and I’m still running in the Library SNCOIC Marathon; all while trying to medal in the Piccolo Gymnastics. How am I going to fit it all into 31 days?