Amateur Performers

[secondwind]

Hi everyone.  I'm wondering if there are other members of the forum who consider themselves amateur performers.  What do you play, where do you play, and how often do you play?  I am currently rehearsing Mozart's Gran Partita with a community group.  I have been frustrated by the difficulty we have getting 13 people together for a rehearsal.  With the performance two weeks away, we still haven't had one rehearsal with all the players who intend to play in the performance  .  I have talked to friends who are free-lance professionals.  They say they always feel under-rehearsed because the organizations that hire them can only afford to pay for one rehearsal and the performance.  Amateurs are under-rehearsed for another reason--perhaps because everyone is a volunteer, we can't get everyone to show up for rehearsals (and we need more rehearsals!)  What is your experience like?