I'm told it's pretty typical to dream you show up to class only to discover there's an exam on material you haven't studied, or that you go to give a speech and you're up on stage completely naked, but I've never had any of those dreams. I have dreamed of being late for orchestra, though:
Last night I dreamed I was playing in the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. Except instead of
Robert Chen, it was
Pinchas Zukerman (one of my favorite violinists) in the concertmaster's chair, and I was sitting next to him! I'm not sure which I would be more nervous to play with...
Our conductor was a young, very dynamic
Ricardo Muti look-alike, and we were playing some non-existent but very cool sounding modern piece (I swear, my unconscious brain is 100 times more musically creative than my conscious self. Either that or I have poor taste in music when I'm asleep!). It must have been a special rehearsal, because there were tons of people observing it.
We went on break, and somehow I ended up talking to former music director
Daniel Barenboim, who was one of the observers. He asked me what I did for a living (an odd question, considering the circumstances), and I gave him my real-life answer (I teach theory on the weekends, but most days I stay home with my adorable baby girl). He seemed a little confused that I didn't mention playing in a professional orchestra, but was polite enough not to mention it. We ended up having a lovely conversation about teaching, and before I knew it, I was LATE for the second half of rehearsal!!!
As I was rushing back in (sure enough, they were already tuning!), who should greet me at the door but my former violin teacher
Stefan Hersh! He scolded me for being irresponsible and told me I was fired. I tried to tell him I was talking to DANIEL BARENBOIM, but that didn't seem to impress him. Rats! I guess I'll never find out how the piece ended!
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This may be the most elaborate orchestra dream I've had, but it is by no means the first:
I remember when I was 12 years old, having a nightmare that I showed up to Youth Symphony, and just minutes before rehearsal started, I went to get out my instrument and opened the case to discover I had forgotten my bow! I could have redeemed the situation by finding someone with an extra bow I could borrow, except there was no time, and I was sitting in the front row with no way to be discreet. Mr. Tham (I've never been more afraid of a conductor than I was of him) was going to kill me!!! Thankfully I woke up before he could tear me asunder.
Of course, we won't go into the time when I showed up to a real rehearsal without my instrument! Talk about my worst nightmares come true! I was a soloist, too! But that's another story...
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So, what about you? Anyone else out there have strange orchestra dreams, or am I just completely neurotic?
