When I was a graduate student at the School of Music at Indiana University at Bloomington, I had an assistantship as Student Opera House Manager of the Musical Arts Center. One of my duties every Saturday was to be sure that the lobby was clear of any people so that we could prepare the house for the evening’s opera performance. On one particular Saturday afternoon, I began my duties preparing the house for that evening’s gala performance of La Traviata. I made my way through the catacombs of the house up to the lobby and stopped dead in my tracks. Margaret Hillis, conductor of the Chicago Symphony Chorus – the Margaret Hillis, one of my musical heroes – was sitting in the lobby, peacefully gazing out the scenic glass walls studying the Calder statue in front of the center. I was faced with the duty of evicting one of the greatest conductors in the world! I thought I was going to die.