Continuation of long weekend ...

On Sunday afternoon, I drove to RuralSchool. Some lovely scenic views ... I was reminded some of the landscape of Ireland. I met up with a friend of a friend (my college friend= his high school friend) at the collosal largest-chain-store-in-the-world-which-some-people-think-is-evil (WM, for short ;-), the main place in town. After I bought some Airborne (I'd left my own at MySchool and didn't want to risk going without it, after it served me so well this weekend) and he bought some cold medicine, he took me on a brief tour of RuralSchool's campus (library, union, music building) before bringing me to his girlfriend's apartment where I'd be spending the night. We hung out there for awhile until they decided they wanted to get some more things at WM. So we returned to WM. I was very fortunate that complete strangers were so kind to me, so I didn't want to be rude and tell them how exhausted I was after singing all weekend and then driving a distance to get there. I didn't end up getting as much sleep as I would have liked (6 hours instead of 8), but it didn't affect my voice like I had been afraid the lack of sleep would.

So ... yesterday, I auditioned and interviewed at RuralSchool. I was the only female of the three candidates. The other gentlemen were very pleasant and I enjoyed talking with both of them (although I'd been surprised to meet them at first because I hadn't realized that they would also be coming on this day). I totally developed a little crush on the Tenor by the end of the day too. I had the chance to talk with the person currently in the position for which I was applying (gave me some good inside advice), and the other candidates and I didn't really have a one-on-one interview with the department chair or the program director. Instead, our meetings with both of these people were set up as: we 3 and the important person. Together.

I did get to talk a little more with the program director during my auditions. The basic musicianship testing (vocal/piano sightreading, interval/chord identification, etc.) went very well, but my conducting is still at a very simple level. My vocal audition went well ~ perhaps I wasn't quite as free as in my lesson last week, but placement, tone, etc. were good. I was annoyed though because the person accompanying me, who was sightreading, added his own artistic interpretation (instead of following my lead as an accompanist ought) and he DOUBLED my vocal line with his right instead of playing the accompaniment as written. (The accompaniment is simple enough that I can accompany myself on that particular piece while singing so it wasn't because it was too difficult, and I wasn't messing up pitch or rhythm-wise, so there was no need to "help me out.")

If I were offered this position ... I don't know if I'd accept. Points in its favor are: the program is strong, I'd have a lot of teaching time, and it's only a year-long. (Oh, and I'd get more money when I get a real job.) Reasons why I'm unsettled are: the location (weather, available local culture)/facilities/connections (through faculty, etc.) are not at the level to which I've become accustomed at MySchool. I really liked the program director (whose "slave" I'd be, the kids told me), but I don't know if the pros outweight the cons. I'm praying about it ...