Job Update

It is amazing how much can change in a week. A week ago today I was in California, interviewing at the school in Oakland and falling in love with the area. After a long day of travel on Tuesday, I was back in NH and it appears that something about the change in geography seemed to bring about a change of mind too. When I was in CA, I thought I wanted to move there immediately, and while I still find the idea of living in CA very appealing, I've given a lot of thought to the job in Oakland and realized it isn't really what I am looking for. I had started to think along these lines in the few days since I had returned from CA (and if I'm honest with myself, I even had these thoughts while I was at the school interviewing) and it was solidified when I attended NH All-State Music Festival on Friday. Yes, it was great to see my former colleagues from Manchester and again be a part of the state organization that I had a grown up in and been professionally involved in for my five years in Manchester. The comfort of All-State alone could have been enough to make me want to stay in NH next year, but it ended up being the band rehearsal that sealed the deal for me. Friday morning I went to the All-State band rehearsal and listened to them working on Holst's First Suite in Eb. This has always been one of my favorite pieces and the band sounded incredible. Listening to them play this fabulous band literature made me realize that I wouldn't be happy in a job where I could do this type of music every day. The HS band in Oakland was 5 students, and yes, I could have spent years growing the program and maybe build the band up to a decent size at some point, but that just isn't where I am at right now. I want to walk into a better established program next year and be able to do all the music I love with an ensemble.

So, that leaves me where I am right now - waiting to hear about the job in Wolfeboro that I interviewed for a few weeks ago (they said they would be in contact this week, I hope) and looking for other jobs that might come up. I'm not completely tied to staying in NH next year at all, but I've decided that I am not going to move across the country for a job that I really don't want. I've often struggled with the pull between a great location and a great job. I think it is possible to find both and that would be ideal, but I also know that I am at a point in my career now where I really want a good job, a job I could see myself staying in a for a while, a job that has the things I'm looking for - a decent sized band, an orchestra and/or jazz band, even a chorus wouldn't be bad, plus the chance to teach theory classes or other music appreciation classes. I know these jobs exist, it is just a matter of finding them!

Thanks for all your thoughts and support on the CA thing. In theory it sounded like a great idea, but in reality it just wasn't a good match. If only the program had been better - if that was the case I could have definitely seen myself moving to CA next year. It is hard to be back to the drawing board in terms of jobs, but I keep hoping and praying that the right thing will come my way. I just heard that Bow HS here in NH is open for next year (the guy who is leaving actually interviewed for the Wolfeboro job too and is waiting to hear about it - got to love the small world of NH music education!) and I'll be sending my application. And I'm still looking at schools in other parts of the country too. The right job for me is out there somewhere!