I can understand your frustration, Lea. I'm currently having a similar
problem at the moment hooking up with the accompanist I'll be working with
at competition in early April. I called her on Saturday, and she didn't
return my call until Monday - and then only to leave a voice mail telling
me she was ill, and trying to stay off the phone so she would be well
enough to go out of town for a week during Easter break (she works at a
University), and that - by the way - she had only three possible one-hour
slots free in her entire schedule between now and the competition (9
April).
If it were just a matter of accommodating me, I'd just shake my head and
deal with it (forget the fact that five of the six pieces I'll be
offering at the competition require at least a little advance
coordination and rehearsal, no matter how good the accompanist and how
familiar she is with operatic rep in general). But I know she's also
accompanying several other singers,
who must be similarly going crazy trying to schedule rehearsal time with
her. But when some of them tried to schedule time with her earlier in
March, she told them she was too busy with her students at university, and
they should wait to work with her in late March/early April.
I don't like to begrudge her her holiday, but frankly, I wonder at her
scheduling a week off AFTER she committed to work with ten singers to
get ready for a vocal competition. Or, if the vacation was scheduled
before we made our arrangements with her, not bothering to mention the
fact to us so we could plan accordingly.
I'm somewhat stuck using her because she has agreed to accept a
"collective fee" from all of us (we're all in the same voice teacher's
studio) which is significantly less, per singer, than she - or any other
good accompanist - would charge us were we to have contracted her
individually. So unless I want to scramble to find a different
accompanist, and pay him/her what would be a geometrically larger amount,
ultimately, I'm at the mercy of this accompanist's sense of urgency and
availability - or lack thereof.
Karen Mercedes
http://www.radix.net/~dalila/index.html
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In all thy ways acknowledge him,
and he shall direct thy paths.
- Proverbs 3:6
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