Our first rehearsal is less than two weeks away, on Monday, September 12, at 7:30 pm at TMH. This post includes important information regarding:

• Auditions for new members
• Rehearsals
• Repertoire for the new season
• Invitation to perform for NYSBDA Symposium

Auditions

David Church, our new Personnel Manager, has been working diligently over the summer to help me prepare for our new member auditions on September 6. At at this time, I would welcome any additional qualified Bb clarinet candidates that you might recommend. (Matt Kowalski has decided not to return this season, and so we have two clarinet spots we’re trying to fill.) If you have a clarinetist to recommend, please send me their contact information and I will pass it on to David.

Rehearsals

In September, we are rehearsing on Mondays on September 12, 19, and 26.

There are several Monday holidays in October. The Board is working to resolve the rehearsal which falls on the second night of Rosh Hashanah, October 3. We will rehearse on Columbus Day, October 10. The Board is also working to resolve the issue of Halloween, October 31. And we must find an alternate site for Monday, October 17, which is not available at TMH. We will alert you as these matters are resolved.

Our Fall dress rehearsal is Saturday, November 5, 10:00 am to 1:00 pm, and the concert is Sunday, November 6, 1:00 pm sound check, 3:00 performance.

Repertoire

I’m very excited about our 29th Season repertoire. You can find the entire program listing here. Our annual brochure is at the printer, and we will be mailing these out next week. If you have names/addresses you’d like to add to our hard-copy brochure mailing list, please send them to me by September 6. 

Our Fall program, “Impressions and Memories,” will feature the new Paul Lavender arrangement of Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition. Yes, all 15 movements will constitute the entire second half of the program. This is a unique opportunity to play a superior new arrangement of this monumental work. (I have been careful with the programming of the first half of the concert to balance the overall program.)

As many of you know, Mussorgsky wrote this suite originally for piano in 1874. Ravel orchestrated the work in 1922. Paul Lavender created this new transcription of Ravel’s orchestration in 2012, which was premiered by the US Marine Band, “The President’s Own,” at the Texas Bandmasters Association Convention.

In order to truly understand the work, we all need to experience the development of each movement from its original piano version to the Ravel orchestration to the Lavender transcription. I have created a page with a play list which lines all these up, movement by movement. This is not something you’ll want to listen to in one sitting, but I urge everyone to listen to these comparative recordings. It will help so much with your understanding of the development of this transcription!

NYSBDA Symposium Performance

The New York State Band Directors Association sponsors an annual March symposium with clinics, a keynote address, student honor bands, and guest ensembles. The Saturday night anchor concert is always a guest ensemble of high reputation, and recently has included the Ithaca College Wind Ensemble, the Ithaca College Concert Band, and the Crane School of Music Wind Ensemble. And we have been invited to perform in 2017!

The proposed one hour concert would be performed on Saturday, March 4 at 8:00 pm at the Liverpool Holiday Inn Convention Center in Liverpool, NY (next to Syracuse). We would have a sound check at 6:00 pm. I would draw the program from works on the January 29 and May 20 programs.

The Board considered the invitation and voted to pass this on to the membership for consideration. We will discuss this in detail at our first rehearsal on September 12, and we will need to poll the group for a final decision and respond soon thereafter. Although the invitation is pending, another ensemble may be considered if we do not respond in a timely manner.

If you have specific questions which may affect your decision to participate in this proposed NYSBDA performance, please send them to me, and I’ll try to answer them in my next post.

Have a great week, and a great Labor Day holiday! I’m eager to see you all on September 12 and get to work!