“That does sound fun,” I admitted, longing to be among people again now that this pandemic was easing up.
“There’s an opening act called Mad Alchemy right before Loki’s Laugh plays, but it’s a one-man show and the one man is in Norway where they have stricter Covid measures right now, so I’m not sure if he’ll be able to make it,” Ashe added, almost as an after-thought. “I hope he can, though, because he’s friends with Varg and the rest of Loki’s Laugh, and he’s signed with their record label, Suspicious Activity. Plus, he’s really funny and talented. He’s attractive, too. You might like him.”
Hmmm.
Ashe was always trying to set me up with the friend of someone she was dating. Normally that didn’t work out well, and I’m sure it wouldn’t with her Metalhead guy’s friend, either.
Still, I’d been focusing on school so much that it wouldn’t be such a bad thing for me to let loose and go on a date or finally lose my virginity with a good old-fashioned one-night stand. But then I reminded myself that I still had something looming ahead that demanded all my time and concentration.
Despite having taken my final test—not only of the semester or course but of my entire music school education—there was still lots of work to do. My graduation concert was coming up soon and it was a big deal.
Moments like this were what made music school harder for me than my family and friends thought it should be. I always got anxiety when it came to planning the programs, and a bit of stage freight while executing them.
The graduation concerts I’d conducted each year were always a showcase of new talents for orchestras, choirs and other job opportunities. And now I—or, at least, my skill as a conductor of the concert—would be showcased, basically, since I was graduating and in need of a job.
It wasn’t like they could keep me from graduating if I was a horrible conductor for the concert, but I always liked to try my best and, especially because of my circumstances this year, I wanted to make sure to perform even better than I normally did.
Some very important industry types were almost certain to be in the crowd. I’d never thought of conducting as a particularly secure job. I was far too in touch with reality for that.
But another part of reality held that it would be possible to get a job right out of college, if I’d be able to impress the right people at the right time. It was a gamble, to be sure, but one that I was more than willing to take.
My dating life would have to remain in the same stale holding pattern it had since… well, pretty much forever. I had bigger issues to attend to.
* * *
Later, I was in my room trying to put together said graduation program.
The main issue when putting together a classical concert was trying to keep it original. Just as one wasn’t going to be cast on Broadway with “Let It Go” as their audition song, I wasn’t going to be wowing any judges with the same old thing.
That could be a bit of an issue, considering that most of the repertoire was very old indeed. Still, there was enough of it from varying countries to find something great, as well as obscure.
At the same time, the trick was not to surprise them too much, either. The perfect unicorn of a piece was something obscure enough to get attention but not so much that it would be shocking.
There was no denying it. The more thought and consideration I put into the matter, the more all roads led to going with something by Grieg.
“Hall of the Mountain King” spun in my head, as well as in my CD player. It was my third time playing it through, looking for any new angle to try and make it new. The notes were the same no matter how a song was played; it all came down to interpretation.
At the moment, I was contemplating a break-neck rollercoaster of a version, to make “Flight of the Bumblebee” look placid by comparison. Some monocles might well pop, but at least I’d have made an impression.
Low on tea and in need of a break, I ejected the disc and took my cup to the kitchen for a refill.
Once I got back to my desk, I remembered the CD Ashe had given me that afternoon. Still a bit skeptical, I slid it into the player, just to see what might happen. I was more willing than I’d ever been to experiment.
As the disc spun and the first song played, I could feel a door open in my mind. It was one to a wondrous land I’d never even dreamed possible.
Coming to my senses long enough to check the back of the case, just to see who was responsible for releasing such beauty into the wider world, I opened a search window and looked up “Suspicious Activity Records.”