This Amicitia Duo Texas recital tour has been a wonderful experience- as traveling and performing with my best friend Diane always is. We are seeing old friends, teachers, and colleagues, former students, and meeting and working with tons of new students. We have so much fun performing on stage together and tag-team teaching Masterclasses…and we never fail to make people laugh. Sometimes, however, I’m afraid I cause the laughter by my innate lack of coordination…or maybe it is just bad luck. No matter, Princess Grace has struck multiple times on this trip already. I have already accepted that I will be the lovable, bumbling Aunt Clara from the old Bewitched show when I get old- no doubt about it.
When I’m sitting still, I am typically safe, but anytime I am in motion or speaking, anything can happen. I trip over invisible things, mix up words awkwardly, miss obvious things. Perhaps the most epic goof of any tour so far happened at our masterclass at the University of North Texas, one of my alma maters. Diane and I tag team teach in Masterclasses, often high-fiving when we trade off to make people laugh. This time, however, as I went to high-five Diane so that she could come up and teach, she was looking the other way. Somehow, instead of high-fiving her hand, I high-fived her boob. In front of sixty-five clarinetists, four clarinet professors (including one of my former professors), at the largest music school in the country. Seriously. Diane handled it beautifully, as she always does, saying, “Oh!” And moving right into teaching. I got the giggles and turned beat red. Mortification at DEFCON 7. Oh, the humanity.
We are on the road to our next stop, Texas A&M Commerce. I’m praying for grace and calm, I’m praying for correct words to come out of my mouth, and I’m praying that I don’t accidentally cop a feel of my best friend’s boob again. Diane said that if I happen do it again, to at least go for the left side- no one wants to feel left out. Sigh. There’s always hope, right?
Photographic evidence: Things really ARE bigger in Texas! (Tortilla chip)
The View from Here 