TIFU By Accidentally Interrupting the Choir Festival

Obligatory didn’t happen today, but back in high school (around 10 years ago).

I’m a French Horn player (the twisty brass instrument for anyone unfamiliar) and showed promise early. I got a lot of good opportunities in high school and in my senior year, I finally got to play a piece accompanied by the school choir! We performed it a couple of times, it went well, hooray and all that. Since it was going well, the choir director decided to put it on the program for the District Choir Festival (a very big concert held in the high school gym featuring all choirs from the elementary, middle, and high schools in the district). I was nervous but excited!

Some important info: the festival is so big, they don’t print out programs because they would need 100’s and it’s not practical. I did not know the concert order. I was depending solely on a non-specified signal from the choir director to know when I should go onto the gym floor. The choirs sing in rotations, so it would go elementary, middle, high, repeat.

I’m nervous, sitting in my bleacher seat waiting for an unclear cue to go out to play. The choir director is talking, and as he’s talking he happens to look at me, do an awkward look down/nod (in retrospect probably going out of his way to NOT cue me) and for some reason I decided that was my cue. I unpacked my horn and confidently strode out into the gym and stood RIGHT. NEXT. to the director. He’s holding his mic, giving his speech, and looks at me as he’s talking like “WTF.” I started to realize I messed up when he started announcing accolades for some of the high school choir members, and there was no end to the speech in sight OR start of a new piece. I walked out 5 minutes into a 15 minute speech. I stood there for 10 minutes.

BUT IT GOT WORSE. Logically, when he announced the next piece was by THE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL CHOIR, I should’ve taken the L and gone back to my seat to wait, but I still wanted to look like I was supposed to be there (which I obviously wasn’t) to save face (which I obviously didn’t). I awkwardly did a lap behind the high school choir risers until I was placed on the piano bench next to the accompanist. There were probably 4 more pieces before mine actually came on.

I played my part, and booked it out of there as fast as I could. They record all performances, so the tape is out there somewhere! Sometimes I wonder if it’s local choir lore and they watch it just to remember how dumb band members are. I don’t think I want to know! I was kept awake by this moment for YEARS afterwards and sometimes it still punches me in the gut!

Oh, and my one consolation was that I was graduating and no one I was keeping in touch with saw it. My parents came home 30 minutes after me and said they decided to go last minute. I got teased for A WHILE.

TL;DR: I didn’t know when to enter the performance area and wound up awkwardly standing next to the choir director while he gave a speech and had to hide somewhere while other choirs sang. Yes it was recorded, no I don’t have nor do I want access to it. Oh and my parents were there to see it without my knowledge!