I dig music...

In just 7 short days, I will be departing for the NEA/Columbia School of Journalism Institute in Classical Music and Opera in New York City.

yikes.

This is an institute that encourages writers from smaller markets to learn and hone their skills in writing about classical music. They're sending us to concerts all over the city, and getting to meet and do workshops with major people in the business, along with classes and lectures about the history of the music and the institutions.

I'll be there with writers and editors from all over the country, most, I'm sure, with considerably more experience than I have. I hope I can just sit back and soak it all in, not embarrass myself, and come back with some great stories to tell.

Actually, given the medium I'm working in now, I'm really hoping to be blogging during the whole thing, provided that I'm not so utterly exhausted as to be unable to lift my fingers to the keyboard. We shall see.