You nailed it, Saul. They actually only thought to hire this lone harpist on Tuesday for a Saturday rehearsal concert that also includes Don Juan. Actually, the contractor only mentioned those two pieces, but their publicity release also lists Barber’s Knoxville… The contractor seemed surprised when I mentioned he might want to look into a harp part for that and I haven’t heard from him since. The musician in me wants to be studious about the Stravinsky (I do have the score), but the realist is resisting – too many notes in not enough time with just harp 1. It’s not my problem to solve, unless, of course, they pay me the salary of 3 harpists…

Funny story about this concert. The orchestra manager sent me a pdf of the Barber 2 days before the concert, and a pdf of the 1919 edition, but no apology for sending the 1911 2 days earlier. OK, fine, I’ve played 1919 and the Barber, just needed to focus on the Strauss. Rehearsed the Strauss right before the concert, conductor says, let’s do the Mahler and then take a break. I glance at the music on a neighbor’s stand: it’s the Adagietto. Final score for the orchestra manager? He accurately hired me for 1 out of the 4 pieces on the program.