Early August update

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The Markowski commission has been completed!
See details below.

Tentative rehearsal schedule has been posted

Several members have inquired about the new season’s rehearsal schedule. The tentative schedule can be found here. There are some conflicts to circumvent with alternate sites. As in past seasons, we ask that members be present for all rehearsals, with a maximum of two rehearsals missed for illness/emergency per concert cycle.

Tarrytown Farmers Market this Saturday!

Come out to the Tarrytown/Sleepy Hollow Farmers Market in Patriots Park this Saturday, August 6 between 11:30 am – 1:30 pm, to hear our saxophone section performing at the TMH booth. The WSW saxophones will be playing a variety of classical, pop, jazz, patriotic, and other standards during their 2-hour set. You can expect to hear the Blues Brothers, Bohemian Rhapsody, Over the Rainbow, and much more! Your support is welcomed!

Markowski Commission completed!

I’m very excited to announce the completion of Michael Markowski’s latest work for wind band, DESERT SAGE, underwritten by the Tartell Family Foundation, which we will premiere on November 6.
The title is a play on words, in many ways:
  • It refers to the hearty desert flower that survives against all odds in its brutal climate. Desert Sage (also known as Purple Sage) is one of the “showy-ier” flowers in the desert with its bright purple blossoms.
  • It refers to the sage advice found in the cowboy songs of the US desert southwest, used as the melodic basis for this four-movement, twelve-and-a-half minute work. The movements are titled:
    1. A Cowboy’s Life
    2. Goodbye, Old Paint
    3. Bury Me Not
    4. Rye Whiskey
  • It is a reference and intentional salute to Percy Grainger’s own Lincolnshire Posy, along with its seminal origins as a gathering of ‘wildflowers’ (the folksingers) that were the basis of the folk songs used in that iconic suite. Michael’s ‘posy’ refers to both the flower and the cowboys who sang these collected songs.
  • It also refers to Michael’s own upbringing in his home state of Arizona.
I’m also sub-titling the concert itself as DESERT SAGE, because:
  • Our soloist, Christopher Creviston, is coming to us from Arizona State University.
  • Desert sage has a rich purple hue — very much a Northwestern University purple — a tribute to the composer of the first two works on the program — Jay Kennedy (NU ’73) — and his fiancé, Mallory Thompson, for whom both pieces were written. These performances will be the New York premieres of both works.
It’s going to be so exciting to share Michael’s music with you on this exciting program come September! When the parts are complete, I’ll post them to the Google Drive so you can access them along with the other pieces before the first rehearsal on September 12.