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I just did that for the first time the other day! So, yes. I have also always named my harps, which apparently is similarly controversial. 🙂
Re: the standing ovations – amen to that! I live in a city with a very low level of education and a cultural activity temperature close to absolute zero. When a travelling production of La Boheme came through town a few years ago, my husband leaped at the chance to surprise me.
La Boheme has been my favorite opera since I was young enough to count my years in single digits. This production was okay, but not amazing. The acting was stilted, and the singing was mannered. Frankly, the performances on the old vinyl record to which I grew up listening were better!
At curtain, however, everyone in the theater stood up and applauded wildly. I clapped freely, but purposely remained seated. My poor husband felt so awkward about being one of the only two people in the crowd still sitting that I had to explain to him, “Was that a performance you’ll remember for the rest of your life? Were you moved on levels you didn’t even know existed? No? Well, you can stand if you want, but you’ll be sacrificing your integrity to fit in.”
Funny thing too – we definitely stood out as sitters. The soprano spent the entire ovation staring at us. She must have become accustomed to unearned standing ovations, poor thing!
The first time I played my new harp in public, we were positioned on a RED carpet. All of my C strings disappeared! Fortunately, we practiced in the church three days before performance, so I found out about it early enough to say something. The resident sound tech took a white table cover off a nearby table, draped it over a music stand, and set it behind me. Phew!
Bringing a piece of fabric with you is a fabulous idea! I’ll definitely add that to my list of things to bring when I start playing out. 🙂
