The Stars That Tremble by Kate McMurray

really blame Amelia, though. He’d seen students like this before and doubtless would again. The blame for her situation rested entirely on the shoulders of her overzealous parents.
    “All right.” Dacia nodded and backed away from the desk. She sat in the guest chair and leaned back. “I imagine the Quinlans are the sort who would make trouble if their daughter did not make the cut.”
    “Tracy Quinlan came to visit me a few weeks ago and implied that. Or, more accurately, tried to bribe me. ‘Anything I need,’ she said. Money for studio space, new costumes, a piano tuner, whatever we want is ours for the taking in exchange for selling our souls so that an above-average but not great singer can get into the Olcott Young Musicians Program.” He sighed. “I suppose there are worse crimes.”
    “We’re not exactly starving, though.”
    “Also true.”
    Dacia looked over at Gio’s bookshelf and nodded thoughtfully. “I came here this afternoon to talk you onto my audition committee, but I will take your point that you are somewhat biased as far as the McPhees go. I do not imagine you could be accused of favoritism, however. Anyone can see how talented that girl is.”
    “Still. I feel strange about the situation.”
    “Not enough not to get involved.”
    “True. In my shoes, cara , you would have done the same.”
    “ Naturalmente . I have seen him with my own eyes.”
    “It’s not just that. If that were all, I could put it aside. That night, though, it was… romantic. He is turning out to be not at all what I expected, in a wonderful way.”
    “I am happy for you, then.”
    Gio looked at his watch. “Well, I should get to my class. Might as well try to get Amelia up to snuff so that her parents don’t feel they have to buy and endow a building to get her into the program.”

Nine

     
    G IO thought perhaps the worst part of teaching was watching the expressions on the faces of the kids when they had the epiphany that they weren’t good enough.
    He didn’t like to sugarcoat things, though. Some of these singers did not have the inherent talent to make it to the world’s finest stages. That didn’t mean the situation was hopeless; one of his first students had a record deal and a pop song burning up the charts. Maybe these rejected kids would go on to sing something other than opera. But the sad truth was, the odds were good that about half of the students in any given workshop would either keep trying but never do anything better than singing at a sibling’s wedding, or they would give up and do something more practical with their lives. He hated to be so harsh with teenagers, but this was how the world worked; Gio had received the same treatment when he’d trained in Italy. The students in those classes either succeeded or found another dream.
    Yet when Gio dismissed half the class a little early during the penultimate week of classes, he saw the realization dawn that they would not be asked to audition for the Young Musicians Program, that they would not be pulled into Giovanni Boca’s inner circle of successful voice students. It broke his heart. But better for them to find out now than to carry on with the hope that one day they’d sing at the Met.
    Now he stood before his six best students plus Amelia Quinlan. He resented the latter’s inclusion somewhat, but he knew better than to think she wouldn’t show up at the YMP auditions anyway. He figured he’d play along for now. Not all of the other kids would make it, either, although he had higher hopes for them. Then again, he’d had a student two years before who had a voice that could bring down the rafters, but she had promptly quit singing upon leaving for college. Opera was dying, she’d told him. That was actually a more common outcome than Gio would have liked.
    He didn’t want to dwell in his pessimism, though. He looked at seven young faces and chose to see the future of opera instead.
    “As I’m sure you know, auditions for