In May 1993, I made a passing mention on the show that it had always been a fantasy of mine to conduct an orchestra. I quickly got invitations from several orchestras. I settled on the Greenville Symphony Orchestra in Greenville, Pennsylvania. Greenville is a small town about an hour north from Pittsburgh. At the time it had about six thousand residents. I chose it because the orchestra was struggling to pay its bills and because I thought it seemed like a nice little weekend getaway for me and Jean.
I must admit I was nervous. My hands trembled as I tried to fasten the boutonniere on my tux. It was a sixty-seven-piece orchestra, and I was leading them in the overture to Gioachino Rossini’s Cinderella, which isn’t easy even for an experienced conductor. I don’t read music, so I memorized the entire piece. And there were seventeen hundred people in attendance. But I was expertly coached by the symphony’s normal conductor, Paul Chenevey, and I got a good piece of advice from one of the players. They said, “If you mess up, what are they going to do? Fire you?” That calmed me down.
Just like with Jeopardy! studio audiences, I opened the festivities with a joke. I said, “This is the first time I’ve come to a place outside Los Angeles where I did not have to be confronted with, ‘Oh, there’s the host of Jeopardy!, Pat Sajak!’ ”
We sold $40,000 worth of tickets, and the audience seemed to enjoy it, though I did make one unconventional choice. I conducted without a baton. I believe that’s something you have to earn.