News and updates for our rehearsal on Wednesday:

• I visited the New Rochelle HS campus on Monday, and took some photos to help guide you. See below.
• The Board will meet in the Band Room at 6:15 pm. Rehearsal will follow at 7:30 pm.
• Through a connection with our Exchange Concert host, Kendra Farn, we are now expecting a Channel 12 news crew to be visiting rehearsal tonight. They are expected at 7:00 pm; I have no idea how long they will stay, and I don’t know how distracting they will be. We will have to finish the Board meeting when they arrive, and it’s my goal to minimize their impact on the effectiveness of our rehearsal.
• New, unfamiliar site + Channel 12 + final working rehearsal = leave early, allow plenty of time!

Click here for directions supplied by NRHS. Remember, DO NOT USE GPS to go to the school’s street address. The directions in the linked document are very good for getting you to the entrance onto campus at North Avenue at Braemer Avenue.

Drive onto campus at Braemer:

Drive in past the tennis courts and park in the parking lot at the north end of the “new wing,” labeled the Museum of Arts and Culture:

Walk along the length of the lake side of the wing, passing the doors that say “Faculty Entrance Only” and continuing to the far corner of the building:

Go around the greenhouse and head for the “keyhole:”

Walk through the “keyhole,” and look for the double doors on the right:

The Band Room is just inside, first doors on the left:

See you on Wednesday!

On the front page/Rehearsal This Week: I’ve added the complete rehearsal plans for Wednesday’s rehearsal at New Rochelle HS (including directions), Saturday’s dress rehearsal at TMH, and Sunday’s sound check and concert at TMH.

Please take care of yourselves this week! Avoid heavy lifting, children who sneeze, and spouses who cough. We need each and everyone of you to be at the top of your game at our final rehearsal, dress, and concert. I’m looking forward to the great music we’re going to make together this week!

Rest, practice, and I’ll see you Wednesday!

Monday: We’re back in the Music Hall for our penultimate working rehearsal. The rehearsal plan is posted. It includes run-throughs of Parts 1 & 3 of PAAE. Please remember that we are rehearsing next week on Wednesday, instead of Monday (because of Halloween), and that this rehearsal will be in the New Rochelle HS Band Room. Then, later that week, the dress rehearsal is Saturday at 10 am and the concert is Sunday!

Ads: Monday is the last day we can accept last minute ads for the program. Please give your ad form, payment, and copy to Tom Sweezey, who is organizing it all for me.

Parking: For many years, we’ve tried to warn players not to park in the lot behind the CVS in Tarrytown, but it bears repeating. Unfortunately, several players who parked there were ticketed two weeks ago. A slap in the face, I know. Please be careful. There’s still no news about the lot which was closed at Broadway and Neperan. Hopefully that will be resolved by the concert, but who knows.

And thank you to the WSW members who played for the convocation at The Masters School today. You were a tremendous asset!

Brrrrrrr. What happened to Indian Summer? Enjoy the weekend anyway. See you Monday!

Please remember that we are meeting and rehearsing this Monday at Port Chester High School, at 1 Tamarack Road, Port Chester, NY. Click here to enter your starting address in Google Map directions. Rehearsal will focus on Ewazen, Holst, and selected movements of the Mussorgsky.

This is your last chance to order a 2015-2016 CD, thumbdrive, or SD card! Click here to place your order, then give your payment to Marge Hone.

Concert flyers are ready to download, print, and share. Find them on the Resources page.

And remember that ads are due on Monday! Give your ad forms, payments, and ad copy to Tom Sweezey.

Judy Mitchell from Kensico Cemetery (from our 2014 Benefit Concert), asked me to pass on the information about their upcoming 5K on October 30, benefitting the Alzheimer’s Foundation. You can run, walk, or just donate if your running shoes don’t fit. It certainly is an interesting and beautiful setting for a 5K! I’ve attached the flyer.

It’s mid-afternoon on Saturday. I’m still planning the selection and rehearsal order of the Mussorgsky movements, but I will post them later, before heading to the Oboe Chamber Music Concert, organized by WSW’s own Ruthie Garcia, and featuring several of our WSW players, at St. Joseph’s Church, 95 Plum Brook Road, Somers at 7:00 pm. I hope I’ll see some of you there!

But I will see you Monday — in Port Chester!