It’s fourth period and Chamber Strings is in the midst of a fermata: bow arms are outstretched, the volume is at a forté, and everyone on stage looks to Dalpez for when to end the chord. Suddenly, the lights in the PAC shut off, as musicians are left in a sea of black penetrated only by a lone ghost light in the corner. Instinctively, I fumble for my phone, turn on its flashlight, desperately attempt to make it across the stage without tripping on any cellos, and finally reach the lighting console. The presets switch on, saving the orchestra from the threat of darkness. Every time that Chamber Strings practices, it has to deal with the lights going out anywhere from one to three times per session. Liberty musicians can suffer no longer. This light programming error wastes an average of three minutes of class time every rehearsal, which is equivalent to three entire wasted periods per year where students have to sit in the dark. There is no way this would be tolerated if orchestra was a core class. Whoever is in charge of the PAC needs to reprogram the light console ASAP.