canned cocktail wiener found in walter hall

today, walter hall was hosting a special event for violists: heidi castleman masterclass. she teaches at juilliard and yes, i think it is quite exciting to play for a different teacher- you can take away so much with you, the inspiration, technical knowledge, a new emotional dimension, you name it. and i was confronted by a special person as well, just not as helpful, however impressive.

walter hall is a busy place. and it's only a natural thing that students want to get in there to practice- it sounds good, it feels good and yes, there is shortage of space at busy times of the day in school. however, it is a performance hall and not a practice room, especially regarding the pianos. the piano technicians work very hard to keep the instruments to meet the heavy demands.  they come way before the students, to yield to the kiddies who want to practice. and yes, they do go home after a day's work.  and because many musical events take place in late evenings, it is important to 'guard' the pianos so that they will be ready for the events.

situation one: an undergrad comes in to the hall, have a whirl, playing schumann.

monkey: hey, do you have this place booked for a dress rehearsal?

kiddie: ur, no?

monkey: we have castleman masterclass this evening for viola students. the piano has been worked on this morning to accommodate for that. would you please refrain from using the piano?

kiddie: ur, ok (packs and leaves)

situation two: 5 sec later, another pair comes in and gets ready to have a violin-piano duo rehearsal.

monkey: would you please leave the hall if you have not booked the hall through the performance office?

kiddie: but im going to be here for only 5 minutes.

m: if you havent booked it, you should not be here. and no, this is not a practice room.

k: what's the problem?

m: there's a viola masterclass this evening and the piano has been conditioned for that event. they should have a well-cared instrument for their event.

k: but i practice here all the time. there was another kid just here playing piano.

yeah, i know who you are. i see you often in the hall. nothing to do with your playing, but if you arent supposed to be there and no one asked you to leave, that's a bonus, not a right. anyways.

m: yes. well, sometimes one is lucky. i did ask him to leave. and you came. so i am asking you to not to have a rehearsal here in the hall with your pianist.

k: it wont damage the piano to play for 5 min.

what part of 'unintentional damage' is incomprehensible? i hope no one plans to damage things like concert pianos.  but it does happen. and yes, technicians do go home. what happens if someone breaks something and just leaves without notifying anyone? what if there's nothing to be done? who would take the responsibility? would you want that for your own recital? haha, i bet not.

m: ... so to eliminate such possibility, students are not to practice here.

k: then why dont you put locks on the pianos?

are you serious? 

because you intend to not to respect anyone and you cannot be trusted, you think everyone should not be trusted? ridiculous.  well, there is a reason why both pianos arent locked.

m: ...for instance, it is student's responsibility to arrange to get the piano key for one of the steinways.  but often, students havent read the policy and they may arrive to the hall with no keys in after-hour. there is no one in the office to open it for them. they would be left in the dust. pretty big loss if that was supposed to be THE dress rehearsal.  so rather than leaving one in the dust, one piano will not have a lock on it, it's a grace room.

k: well-

m: if you have more variants of same protest, please bring it up to the performance office please.

k: do you work here?

why does it matter?

what you are doing isnt right and youve been confronted and perhaps feeling a bit small-penis-ish. (sorry that it is so visible. how weird such small thing can be so visible, i wonder)

your arguments are self-centered and illogical. there is no actual argument but only of selfish complains and immature reasons... and im not your mother, which makes this highly inappropriate. 

you dont respect yourself and you expect no one else to respect anything (though you seem to think you should be respected by this 'unknown stranger' who is asking you to leave).

you think and say things should be just locked (alarming). it would be the same mentality that in shops without security guards, you should be allowed to shoplift. or that if you see a score you want from the library, you should rip it out and take it because they dont do bag checks in the library.  

this is a hall and no, it is not a practice room. these rules are set for everyone's benefit. but of course, being young and bull-headed, you want to 'argue' about rules that you arent even aware- have you even checked out the use-of-hall policy? i bet not. if you did, you would not have started what you thought was discussion and what i thought was series of nonsensical yet spectacular display of immaturity. 

however, after all has been explained to you reason-by-reason, your only come back is: 

if ( i ) work here? 

i wish you would realize how ridiculously silly you are. if it did not seem too cruel, i would have had no qualms about using your real name as you were obviously proud, stubborn and 'smart.' haha. geez. what would happened if i dont work here? would that make your statements 'right'? but... how?

m: yes i work here.

im sure i will see that kiddie again in the hall. and i am sure kiddie will think that stinker is here again to 'disturb' my practice in the hall. i will have to think once again about the simple difference in english words 'performance hall' vs. 'practice room' and the fact that if one cannot distinguish the difference, perhaps this is not the biggest challenge in their lives, oh dear. 

im so grateful that st. lawrence quartet was just here the other night in the same hall. without 'real' music, sometimes 'music school lives' vignettes can be quite tragicomical.