Tonight was the Iolani School’s Winter Concert for the Hokuloa Singers and Chorus, and we had a closed circuit television set up on the organ console so I could see the conductor, John Alexander. It consists of a video camera connected to a television monitor and it has worked extremely well in the past—there is no delay in what I see as the conductor’s beats. Let’s just say it *has* worked well in the past.

Tonight, at the concert, however, it was a total disaster!

No sooner had we gotten to the bottom of the first page of music and then the camera would turn itself off. And this is what I saw instead:

YIKES! And as you could see by this photo, my view of the conductor was completely blocked. No way to see around the students! That means I didn’t know when to cutoff or start each new phrase.

One student had been instructed to check on the video camera and to turn it back on, which he dutifully did between pieces and at the beginning of the pieces with organ accompaniment. However, once the music started, there was no way to see the conductor and I had to guess where the cutoffs were. So as soon as the chorus stopped singing, I lifted my hands so quickly off the keyboard like you might do when touching a hot stove!

Miraculously, when I told John about it after the concert, he said he didn’t notice that I had any trouble seeing him. Some neighbors of mine who attended the concert also told me they didn’t detect anything amiss.

I just about had heart failure each time that camera turned itself off. However, the sound of the choir, especially, the sopranos, was especially sweet and lovely.

Technology — BAH, HUMBUG!