—by Leigh Stringfellow Cary, N.C
I will always remember my first rehearsal with the Durham Symphony Orchestra. It’s a semi-professional group lead by Maestro William Curry that uses the combined talents of volunteer and professional musicians. It’s an interesting group, and I was delighted to play on its pops concert last spring, a tribute to Paul Roberson.
The orchestra rehearses Tuesday nights in the basement of a building belonging to the Durham Arts Council. I arrived about an hour before the rehearsal, unpacked my harp, and introduced myself to the librarian and personnel manager, both players in the group as well. The librarian kindly told me that she was going to slide my case to the side, because she had just spotted a mouse running along the baseboard nearby.
“A mouse? Oh dear,” I thought.
Musicians trickled in at first, and one of them, an expert violinist with a soft spot for small creatures, emptied a nearby box, trapped the mouse, and re-homed the baby rodent in the parking lot outside.
Whew! The mouse has left the building.
The rehearsal began, and I started counting, listening, and playing my part. Everyone was grooving to an arrangement written for Charlie Parker, “Just Friends.” When suddenly, someone excitedly gasped and stood up.
“What happened?” I wondered. “Did they play a wrong note? Did their string break?”
No, no. A second and bigger mouse had scampered through the cello section and directly into the instrument closet, probably looking for his quarter-sized violin. The maestro locked the mice in the instrument closet for the duration of the rehearsal, and we continued.
Later, a third mouse made an appearance, maybe to show its approval of the orchestra’s rendition of a couple of Joplin rags. His presence elicited gasps, shrieks, and a well-executed wave in the string section. (Baseball fans would have been impressed.)
The expert violinist again grabbed her box and relocated the mouse to its new home in the outdoor parking lot.
Rehearsal went on uninterrupted. At the following week’s rehearsal, the baseboards were lined with mousetraps. •
