The search committee had a mandate to find the town's preeminent musician. (mandate: directive, order, command; preeminent: outstanding, foremost, leading) The obvious choice was a stellar visitor whose fees were prohibitive. (stellar: outstanding, exceptional, superb; prohibitive: unaffordable, exorbitant, excessive) The less obvious candidate was an assiduous rehearsal pianist. (assiduous: diligent, industrious, attentive) She could find any lost entrance by listening to the breathing of the tenors. Her application listed no awards.
The chairman called the visitor's command of a chorus incomparable. (incomparable: matchless, unrivaled, unparalleled) His assistant remarked that they were making a comparison at that very moment. Was the claim an honest conviction or a polite generality? (conviction: belief, certainty, assurance; generality: generalization, broad statement, sweeping statement) It would take a rehearsal to establish which conductor could elicit the sound they needed. (elicit: evoke, draw out, extract) The visitor would conduct the first verse; the pianist would conduct the second.
The pianist played neither verse. She gave the beat and waited. The altos entered without leaning on the piano for once. The visitor turned to look at her. "You knew they'd do that?" he asked. She hadn't known. But she had given them room. He recommended her for the job and asked whether he could sing bass at the next concert.