Return of Weirsdo

Diamonelle doesn't need paparazzi.

I'm sorry to have been gone so long. The usual rush of lessons and orchestra rehearsals is upon us, and on top of that, my dream job has apparently fallen into my lap.
Last summer, when I was working at a nearby music camp, Mr. Z. was also working there. Mr. Z. had been given the task of transforming the preparatory program at NSU from students teaching lessons for peanuts to a full pre-professional program for promising young music students. The problem was that despite its fairly large size, Nearby City, GA, had few good students.
Why? Perhaps because its main industry, the military, is not known for pursuing classical music, or because the second most lucrative industry is medical, and doctors don't spend enough time with their families to get their kids to practice (just a guess, and, of course, an over-generalization). Or maybe the days of the wife bringing in a little income on the side by teaching music are history, since most households require two full incomes to get by. Certainly the young people I know who are freelancing in the area are understandably more interested in quick income from gigs than in the slow and uncertain money from teaching.
Whatever the case, no students were forthcoming. After watching and working with the six students I brought to the camp, interviewing me while seeming to chat over the course of the week, and observing the performance of the groups I was coaching on the camp recital, Mr. Z. hired me to work in his Young Artist Program, hoping I would be able to bring in some decent participants.
Fortunately, I was able to get seven kids and their parents to sign up, including J. and a visiting student who has been studying with a member of the faculty at Shanghai Conservatory. They and three cellos, including Mr. Z.'s 14-year-old daughter, meet every Saturday at NSU for an hour of chamber music, an hour of orchestra, and an hour of masterclass. The kids are getting to play for the world-renowned Mr. S. and W. W., among others.
Every week is very exciting for me. Being the only one on the faculty without an established career with a major ensemble, I was quite willing to work with the least advanced chamber group, but this is fun, since these are the students who will learn the most and come the farthest. Then I get to participate in the chamber orchestra, since they have no violas except staff, and it is interesting to watch how Mr. Z. works with the kids, which is a specialty of his. Finally, I get to watch the guest artists who do the master classes teach the kids whom I've prepared and the odd cellist.
But the most amazing part is that after Dr. Minnie Strator harassed me out of Very Red State for not raising my grades and lowering my standards, after years of most non-Asian parents in this town going to the teachers who made them and their lazy kids feel comfortable, instead of to me--after all that, now suddenly every week I am told what a great teacher I am by major musicians who need my expertise to keep this program afloat.
Oh yeah, and I get paid, too!
It is a bit of pressure, as two students need to be prepared to play in the masterclass nearly every week, and I need the parents to help with transportation. But the prestige, respect, and confidence more than compensate. The parents and kids have been very cooperative--imagine, they are all ready to go at 7 A. M. every Saturday! These families really understand and appreciate what an amazing opportunity this is. I'm pretty sure word will spread and others will begin to notice also.