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Well, I was able to cancel a rehearsal today.  The brass agreed to stay an extra 20 minutes after rehearsal with the promise that there would be no rehearsal that night, and in the end it worked out.  I have to admit that the more I studied Copland’s Our Town, the more I didn’t like the piece, and the more I regretted programming it… Now, I think I figured out why.  As I began conducting it, I realized why… I had been making it too complicated.  I had been pushing the piece too be too much.  The beauty of Our Town is the complete innocence of the material that Copland is able to capture.  And, when you try to make an innocent piece into Richard Strauss, it doesn’t work.  As I went through it with the orchestra, I remembered why I had programmed it, and I’m glad I did.  A number of people from the orchestra came and asked me which movie the music was from.  I feel like I have done my missionary work for the year!  The Ives is working, though the next time I will see them is the dress rehearsal.  I hope it sticks!