Cellist Warms Up in Five Star Hong Kong Hotel Before Audition
April was a cellist from Boston, Massachusetts. She had recently graduated from the Ohio University with a master’s degree in music performance. She also had a bachelor’s degree in music, though she had taken five years off of school between degrees to go out and get some professional playing experience. One of the things she discovered in that time, though she had been fully informed of this reality by her university professors, was the degree of competition she faced by trying to forge a career in classical music. She also discovered in that time that she enjoyed playing with rock bands and particularly loved working with a small Irish folk group she met at an Irish pub when she was back in Boston.
During her five years away from school April learned a great deal about what was considered to be the real world and also about her own preferences as a musician. At one point she was pretty sure she would not pursue a career with a symphony and would permanently join the Irish group. However, the harsher reality of that dream came crashing in when she found out how random work could be and how little regular income she could expect to make. So, somewhat disillusioned, though still in love and passionate about music and the cello, she returned to school and thought that was the best route to get her back on the classical music track.
And now, three years later, April is sitting her room in one of the five star Hong Kong hotels tuning her cello and warming up for her audition with the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra. She was incredibly excited about her possibility of playing with them as they were the largest symphony orchestra in Hong Kong and had many well-respected musicians among their ranks. She also thought that based on what she had seen of Hong Kong in the previous week during her stay that she would be very happy living there for the next few years. One of the things she found particularly romantic and attractive about the city was the evening symphony of lights. This was one of the first things she wrote home about. Hopefully her successful audition and job offer will be one of the last things she writes home about, for this trip anyway.
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