International Youth Symphony rehearsal - Day 3

Today's rehearsal was pretty good (another 7-hour one.) We ran through the symphonies and did a lot of detail work. My concentration level was not so good after lunch, but I didn't make any major mistakes. I also had a headache. Afterwards when I came home, I felt absolutely exhausted. I don't remember ever feeling that drained in my whole life (including all-nighters.) I felt like I hadn't slept in days. It made me really moody (my poor husband.) I finally took some Excedrin for my headache before my students. Combining Excedrin with exhaustion is one of the strangest feelings I have experienced. These long days have been very hard on me physically and emotionally. I haven't been able to take naps after rehearsal (even if I had time) because then I wouldn't be able to get to sleep at night. So, even though I've had pretty much enough sleep, the combination of getting up early and rehearsing until I feel like I'm gonna crack up and then coming home and keeping myself awake so I can teach feels like I've been doing everything half-asleep (including driving. Yikes!) I've done the summer camps before (and many other things that have kept me a lot busier than this) but this one is the hardest. Probably because of the longer rehearsals at the beginning. At least the 7-hour days are now done. Even with all my complaining, the camp has been so rewarding. I look forward to the rehearsals because I get to interact with students from all over the world and make beautiful music. I have a new appreciation for Beethoven and Mozart and all the amazing composers. It's given me a different perspective on music and just life in general. And it will only get better!