It can be very easy to get into a gloom and doom attitude while being isolated and then watching the daily news. But there are always acts of kindness out there, some small and others large. When coaching for the Youth Symphony I was always looking for new equipment for the Percussion Section. Once again going back to their performance of Carmina Burana in 2012 (see my 'castanet post'). We also needed an anvil for this performance but rather than using the small 8 inch steel plate that I had donated a few years before, I wanted to get a real anvil sound. I went to a local steel fabrication company to see what I could find. When I went into the office I was confronted by the secretary at the front desk. She was a no nonsense middle aged lady with a rather gruff attitude. In other words, she was the one who was really in charge. I explained that I wanted to get a section of steel 'I-beam' for the performance. She asked for some more information about what I needed and af...
Thoughts on teaching, coaching, repair and general ramblings