Lots of gratitude!
Congratulations — everyone — for such an electric and exciting performance this past Saturday! The blackout, the rain, the flipped order of the fireworks and concert: somehow all of these came together to inspire you to perform at such a high & engaging level! I heard it in the first downbeat of the Star-Spangled Banner, and it continued throughout the entire concert. Let’s all celebrate the contributions to our success from Russ & Donny (American flags donation); Chris Larsen (cherry bomb ornament gifts for our friends at Caramoor); Eric (percussion rental and equipment moves coordination); Gina, Nate, Jake, David, Stan, Dave, Chris, Marianne, Eric, Ava (Mike’s daughter) and Mike (June moving crew); Barton (WSW American Overture); the entire percussion section (White Rose feature); Jessica (Ticheli and more/see below); Stan (Ticheli trumpet solo); MaryKay (vocal soloist); 90+ Westchester County handbell ringers, greeted and organized by David (1812); and Mark, Chris Larsen, Chris Carbone, Rachel, Deb, Janice, Marge, & Marianne (Stars & Stripes solo features)! And I must thank our Board as well for all the time devoted to our cause. If I still missed anyone, please forgive me!
I was truly embarrassed to realize that I did not include Jessica in my extended thanks after the sound check and at the end of the performance. She not only brought her amazing musicianship to conducting An American Elegy on July 4, but I am also so grateful to her for helping to conduct the Fall, Winter, and Spring sectionals, as well as stepping up to take on additional conducting responsibilities for the Dunton and Nelhybel on the winter concert, in addition to the Ticheli last week. Please join me in offering her thanks and congratulations!
The season in review
Since September, we scaled many summits:
- RevFest Concert in September with 1812 and REAL cannons!
- Pines of Rome in November
- Trittico and Bamboo Shoots and City Streets in February
- Maslanka Symphony No. 4 in May
- We increased our social media presence and donor relations projects
- The Board updated our Bylaws
- More BandCamp albums were produced and uploaded to share our live performances
- Assessed and considered a total of 24 alternate rehearsal/performance sites, and visited 12 of those sites for further consideration
- Moved our main rehearsal operations and percussion to UUFNW in Mount Kisco, while rotating rehearsals with New Rochelle and White Plains to vary the drive for members coming from afar
- Spent scores of hours discussing, negotiating, visiting, and finalizing our contract with Hackley, starting with performances only in Diller and expanding to include equipment storage and rehearsals in the APR. All this led to our new designation as an Ensemble-in-Residence at Hackley School!
- First rehearsals in Diller and the APR — it appears that these are amazing spaces in which we can do our best work!
You all contributed to these amazing accomplishments, and I am so proud to be associated with you all!
Slack
We now have 52 members on Slack in the WSW Members workspace. It’s the best vehicle for connecting with other members, especially when messages need to be sent quickly! If you haven’t joined, please consider doing so!
Looking ahead
Next year’s dates are posted on the right side of my home page (for you) and on our public-facing site as well (thanks Rebecca & Eric!). I have most of the Fall rep scanned, but I will alert you when it’s all completely ready to go. Our opening rehearsal is Monday, September 14 in the APR. Auditions are Tuesday, September 8 in the APR. (If you know someone interested in auditioning, contact Katherine.)
I’m putting weekly posts on hold for now. I’ll post interesting and non-critical items to Slack, and will write my next formal post here in August, as we move closer to the start of the new season.
Thank you again to everyone for this massively successful season of 2025-2026. I look forward to the future with you!