Lead What?! Lead Usher…
For ten years in a row, I went to a chamber music festival in Bantry and bathed in music every summer. It all started from a low in my life, when my university contract was up and I was unemployed for three months and had decided for a working holiday. Several applications sent out, I got one positive answer and started my woofing the following Thursday. Work was light and included a lot of dog walking over the hills. One evening, listening to the radio, I realised how close I was to the famous Bantry House, from where the concert series were broadcasted. I asked my host if she would drive us to a concert one night if I bought tickets, and this is how it all started. Jean did not match my passion for classical music, but she was curious, alive, and loved putting on a fancy frock and mingling with her snobbish neighbours. Year after year, I stayed with Jean for a few days, cut grass, planted flowers, trimmed bushes, and took her out to chamber music concerts in Bantry House.
In 2019, I wondered if I should volunteer with the festival – I had taken so much! Maybe it was time to give something back. Jean introduced me to one of the volunteers while he was checking our tickets and we had a chat.
In November, when the call for volunteers came, I dropped my name in. There were some questions- can I read music? No I can’t. Can I play any instrument? Unfortunately I can’t. But I can do a million of other things. Finally, in January 2020, I was accepted. And we all know what happened after that. For two long years, the Chamber Music Festival moved online. My husband and I found a safe way to still go to Bantry every summer. And one time we had a picnic on the lawn of Bantry House with Jean, keeping the necessary distance. In the long winter that followed, Jean made her exit from our world. She didn’t like what the world had become.
Fast forward to January 2022, when I received an email asking me if I was still interested to volunteer. I was walking with difficulty and had been told that month that I needed a hip and a knee replacement. But I couldn’t resist. I said yes. I didn’t ask any questions. I didn’t put any conditions. We booked the same cottage up in the hills, and my husband was going to work from there from 10 days.
Then in June, another emailed arrived. I had been appointed Lead Usher in Bantry House for the 10 days of the festival. This was the proudest moment of my life. Forget academic titles and honours! I was to stand there in Bantry House, let people in and out, and make sure everything was taken care of. I forgot to tell you that in one of the years, when introduced to the owner of the House, I burst into declaring Bantry House was my favourite place in the whole world.
It was a tough job. Concerts at 11am, 4pm, 7pm and 10pm. Keeping an eye on everything. Liaising with the stage manager, the radio crew, the Red Cross volunteers, the festival staff, the house owners, the tea ladies. On my feet, smiling and talking to everyone. But I felt like a queen! I got to sit down for some of the concerts. For others, I had to close the doors and stay outside, minding the old lady who had decided not to risk going in and stopping the latecomers for attempting an assault on the doors.
My stomach was a knot of nerves most of the time. Being on the other side than the regular audience was no easy feat. There was no fainting or severe coughing on my watch, but some of the artists got Covid and concerts had to be cancelled and programmes changed at the very last minute.
By the end, I needed a proper holiday. But I had to go back to work. I knew Jean was watching me from wherever she was and smiling.
And you know what my worst nightmare is? That I won’t be asked to volunteer next year!
October 24 2022 09:32 pm | Limerick