We’re about to send out the press release for the June 14 concert in Chicago. Beside Ed Herko, Jr., and myself, is there anyone else who has direct connections to Northwestern or the Northshore Concert Band? If so, please contact me, so we can include info about you and that connection in the release. It will be going directly to Northwestern and Northshore, in addition to our local newspapers and online distribution list here.

We’re back at it on Monday, hopefully with just about everyone this week. Rehearsal will focus on gaining ground with the big pieces. Take a look at the Rehearsal Plan.

We have a baby-sitting challenge this week. One player, who lives close by in Sleepy Hollow, needs a baby-sitter for his 6- and almost-4-year old in order to attend rehearsal. Does anyone have a daughter or family member who might be interested? Please email me for details.

I have two polls this week. The first — for everyone — asks you to confirm the concerts (May, June, July) to which you have committed. The second — for members going to Chicago — concerns the proposed Chicago Symphony Orchestra concert on June 13. Scroll down the page to get to both polls. Please complete these by Monday before rehearsal. Thank you for taking the 3 minutes needed to do this. (Note that it’s easiest to complete these polls from a desktop, laptop, or tablet; you may experience problems doing this from a phone.)

Stay warm. See you Monday.

Poll #1 – ALL MEMBERS please confirm spring/summer performances

Poll #2 – For Chicago trip performers only

Thanks to everyone for your patience in regard to last week’s cancellation. And thank you for responding to the rescheduled rehearsal this Monday at TMH. We are expecting a remarkable percentage of attendance for this rehearsal, rescheduled onto a holiday, and I am grateful to everyone. To those who have immovable plans: I’m very sorry that we’re going ahead without you, but we will catch you on the rebound in one week.

Don’t forget to download, print, and bring your NxNW parts!!! (Click on the link if you did not do so yet. I won’t have spare parts on Monday night!)

Enjoy your weekend — stay warm in this bitter cold. I’ll see (most of) you on Monday evening!

Rehearsal canceled/rescheduled, optional Open House for music pickup tonight

I wish I had better news. Although Scarsdale opened this morning, they just closed for the day. Jessica Slotwinski really went the extra mile for us on this one, but we have no option other than to cancel rehearsal tonight. Please read this entire post (remember to click on the link) and respond by completing the form at the bottom.

Here is our action plan:

• I will host an Open House at my place tonight, 7:30-9:45 pm, for anyone who wants to drop by and pick up their music (and have a glass of wine). Having the music before our reading rehearsal will really be an advantage! Email me for the address and directions.
• TMH is available next Monday. Because of the cancellation tonight, we will rehearse next Monday, February 16 (President’s Day evening). We recognize that some of you may already have plans and may not be available, but under these circumstances, please make every effort to attend. Please complete the form at the bottom of this post asap to confirm your availability for rehearsal on February 16.

Schedule updates

• If you didn’t already see it, look at my last post, where I examined breadth of the programs in May, June, & July. We have 19 pieces to prepare for these 3 concerts, which occur in the span of 8 weeks, and I will have to overlap their preparation. We simply can’t wait until after the Chicago trip to start rehearsing for Carmoor.
• Note these changes to rehearsals in March:
  • March 16: We will have sectional rehearsals this evening.
  • March 23: I am going to reinstate rehearsal on Monday, March 23. Tom McCauley will conduct a workshop rehearsal on the Maslanka and Bernstein that evening.
  • March 30: As scheduled, there will be no rehearsal (because of Westchester County Schools Spring Break).
• Please note that the “grid schedule” on my blog is now a document that immediately reflects any changes Rachel makes with TMH. On this site, go to Schedules > 2014-2015 Rehearsal Schedule Grid. This will eliminate any lag between negotiated changes with TMH and the time it takes to update that document on this site.

Are you a form and analysis geek?

I have scanned and uploaded my Profanation analysis. Although it looks scary at first, you will notice patterns in the meter changes, which – in the long run – will undoubtedly help us understand this complex work better.

Downers Grove HS Band Concert at Carnegie Hall – Monday, March 2

On Monday, March 2, the Downers Grove (Illinois) High School Bands will perform at Carnegie Hall. We have rehearsal that night (which, unfortunately, I cannot cancel), but the director, Brayer Teague (an NU alum) is offering free tickets to Westchester County students. The program includes the original instrumentation of Rhapsody in Blue, along with Angels in the Architecture. If you are a music educator (or even if you’re not), please share this link to request free tickets. Downers Grove is a Northshore community in the Chicago area with many Northshore Concert Band members, and it has an excellent band program. So it’s in our best interest to try to send as many students and parents as possible to this concert. We’ll be publicizing our June 14 concert to Northshore communities, including Downers Grove. If we scratch their backs, they will scratch ours!

Please consider coming by my place tonight to pick up your music. Remember to email me for address/directions; you can also call the “official” WSW phone number — 914.281.1976. And complete the form below concerning rehearsal next week.

Stay warm, and drive safely!