Preparation to Work: Budding career as pianist and conductor

Back in around 1988 or 89, I was hired for the year: to be in charge of auditioning Resident Artists for Connecticut Opera, touring with them as pianist wherever the company sent them during the week, and for them to occupy smaller roles on the Mainstage, as well as assuming a title of Resident Conductor. NO ONE, even visiting artists, thought I would be actually conducting any shows, but rather, serve as Assistant Conductor....which meant 'an administrator', and to take notes (and disseminate them) for the Visiting Conductors, etc.

This did not come from nowhere, however. I graduated from Hartt College of Music (now called The Hartt School) with a BM in piano, cum laude, and the day after graduation, had already been given a job in Hartt's Opera Dept, to coach & accompany the summer shows.

I showed up at my school, ready to accompany the cast's 1st readthru of Lehar's THE MERRY WIDOW. Instead, there was one of Hartt's founders (and mentor to me), Miss Irene Kahn, seated at the upright as the cast was assembling. Jack Zei, Opera Department Chair, announced: "Due to illness, our conductor from Broadway, Sherman Frank, will arrive in 2 weeks."

So I whispered to Miss Kahn: "Let's go through it anyway. I'll conduct. We'll have it prepared for when the conductor arrives [and the Stage Director was Jack Zei, Dept Chair!] I got the cast ready in a few days, Jack laid out the basic staging plan....and it was ready for Sherman Frank by the time he arrived! "Who did this? Who prepared this?" he asked. "I did." From this point, Sherman and I became long & fast friends. HE got me appointed Associate Conductor (my "stick technique" was solid, dependable, never wavering....and similar to his) of the International Tour of A CHORUS LINE.

Many more adventures of this phase of my budding career as both a pianist AND conductor, though I didn't officially start until 1981 July, in Las Vegas. I was 26.