“The Holst is wrong in bar 47. The tenor horns are crossing above the solo cornets. It’s a common mistake. If you want the real PDF, meet me at St. Jude’s rehearsal hall, Tuesday, 7 PM. Bring a pencil. Not a laptop. A pencil.”

The band chuckled. Martin felt his face burn.

“Martin Finch,” she said. It wasn’t a question. “You’re the one who cried wolf on the internet.”

Elara lowered her baton. “That,” she said, “is the difference between scoring and arranging. Scoring is putting notes on paper. Arranging is putting blood in the veins. You, Martin, just gave this corpse a heartbeat.”

“You want to learn scoring and arranging?” Elara said. “Then arrange this. Not with software. With your ears and that pencil. It’s a Cornish folk tune. Three voices. You have two minutes.”