March Madness #11: I'm totally behind!

It's March 14th and this should be March Madness #14.

But it's not!  Terribly behind. But what isn't new, really?

Part of this crazy opera business seems to be a constant state of feeling that your To Do list just continues to grow, even though you might be getting tons of things done on a daily basis. There's always something...

A scheduling snafu, a problem with communication, a long report to prepare, a program to proof, a poster to design, an aria to transpose, ornaments to write out, music to xerox, a board meeting spreadsheet to look over, letters of recommendation to write, phone calls to return, email, email, email, and then there's those blogs to read.

Plus your private life issues and needs and pressures to take care of and prioritize.

I'm not sure email is helping us; I believe it is hindering me.

Just getting a request to send a photo to someone turned into 9 emails this morning. A phone call would have been easier, quicker and much more efficient. Why aren't people phoning each other anymore?

Are we going to start sending our stage directions via email? (Oh wait, just had to do that a few weeks ago...)

Are we going to start coaching via the internet... (Oh wait, I know people who actually charge to do that and I know people who pay them...)

Are we going to give up being with others?

Are operatic performances going to happen via HD cameras while the audiences sit at home and watch while texting on their smart phones, snacking on apples, petting their dogs, and not listening to their children? (Been there, done that...)

So I can't really go on about this evil, cause I partake in it and I know good, wonderful people who do so to.

But there is no - NO - substitute for person to person contact, preferably in the same room and face to face, when it comes time to solve problems or ask questions. And it's precisely that -- asking questions and solving problems -- that happen in coachings and rehearsals everyday all around the world.

Opera can offer today's world a solution to its tech-isolationist attitude. Opera can keep humans human.

So, a mini-blog on trying to stay human by drowning in operatic activities. Well, drowning's not the best word...

That is all, I must MUST get back to my To Do List or else some emergency of operatic proportions will absolutely do me in!

Here's hoping tomorrow is a better day!