Local Mom Makes Good

In addition to being a world class toddler wrangler, I am also a conservatory-trained classical flautist. This means that I am highly proficient in an area of expertise which is useful to almost nobody. Sad as it may be, our nation's economy will not come to a grinding halt if we stop training people who can play "Flight of the Bumblebee" faster than a hummingbird's wings. Understanding how to translate the ebb and flow of a heart's passion into an auditory experience will not do a thing to lower gas prices, cut down on harmful bacteria, or get dinner on the table in half the time. However, aspiring musicians continue to pack into music schools throughout the country, spending countless hours refining their technique so as to become superhuman powerhouses of artistic prowess, albeit with tendonitis and a very slim chance of gainful employment.

Being a mostly stay-at-home mom is sometimes a difficult job to reconcile with being the Artist Formerly Known as Kristin. Sometimes when I sit in my son's music class, I admit to being a little disappointed at the lack of harmonic complexity in "Where Has My Little Dog Gone". I can remember when I thought I was being lazy if I had only found three hours a day to practice flute, and didn't even bother to get more than an hour of piano and harp practice. Now I am relegated to sneaking down to the basement during Joshua's naptime and practicing whatever I can get my hands on for a half hour before he wakes up, hoping I will be able to maintain enough of my skills to be able to show my students how to play without sounding like I can't.

This is why, when I heard about a job opening in a nearby regional orchestra, I was skeptical about auditioning. I already play flute/piccolo in the local orchestra, but it's only a semi-professional group (they only pay the section leaders) and not the most rewarding musical experience. There aren't that many opportunities to play around here, so I decided I should at least try out for the bigger orchestra. Competition is always fierce for these jobs, even though the pay is not stellar. So I took my one hour a day I could scrape together, and practiced the audition repertoire to the point of nausea (although it may have actually been morning sickness, since I'm almost 3 months pregnant). In the back of my mind, I kept thinking about those lucky young music students with their gleaming 5 hours a day of uninterrupted practice time. "I'll bet none of them had to cut it short because their son spread diaper rash cream all over his face and clothes while he was supposed to be napping", I thought.

To make a long story short, audition day arrived and I was one of seventeen candidates competing for two spots in the flute section. Seven exhausting hours after I arrived, I had passed all three rounds of competition and was offered a job! Of course, I'll have to drop out of the last two concerts of the season to have a baby, and then I can only imagine how little practice time I'll have with two kids under the age of 3, but I suppose things will work themselves out. I was telling Josh (amazingly articulate and wise at the age of 2) about my new job the other day, and he thought about it for a while and said, "I don't want a job. I'm too little." That almost made me happier than winning the orchestral position.