Thank you for another excellent rehearsal this past Monday. I’ve updated the Rehearsal This Week page with the plan for October 21. We have only three rehearsals remaining before the dress rehearsal. Please keep in mind these variations in regard to two of our remaining rehearsals before the concert:

• Monday, November 4 – rehearsal at Port Chester Middle School, 7:30-9:45 pm. TMH is not available on November 4. We no longer have our connection at Pelham. Jim Savage has worked tirelessly to help us connect with the Port Chester schools, and he has succeeded in securing the Middle School in Port Chester as our alternate rehearsal site. We will discuss directions, parking, etc. over the next two weeks.
• Saturday, November 9 – dress rehearsal at TMH, 10:00 am – 1:00 pm (as published this summer). TMH could not guarantee us the usual Wednesday evening dress rehearsal, so we took the Saturday morning time as a guaranteed rehearsal time. Last year, this Saturday dress rehearsal was a necessity because of Hurricane Sandy. This year, we won’t have such a marathon session, but we are still looking forward to a great dress rehearsal on the day before the concert.

Some quick notes on the music:

• Avshalomov – As I discussed, by big concern at this point is streamlining the transitions between all these movements. Everyone must anticipate the changes (including audiating the next tempo) and physical set ups to make each transition as smooth as possible. The next rehearsal will focus on movements I-V, and the next rehearsal will focus on VI-X.
• Whitacre – We now need to take all this technical challenges and programatic sounds and weave them into one solid, unrestrained unit. Our goal is to create an image in sound which the audience cannot miss.
• Marquez – We’ll have one more rehearsal before Rick Guillen takes over this piece. Tempo at the beginning is a big concern. I am trying to take responsibility for it, but if we can’t maintain it as a collaborative effort, we’re in trouble when the guest conductor takes over. I’m moving it out of slot #1 in the next rehearsal, hoping that this may have a positive impact on locking in the tempo at the beginning. Keep thinking about the conversation which is inherent in the piece, and work to build the energy throughout the piece through to the end.
• Sullivan – Keep focusing on tackling and conquering the technical demands, so you can then “let go” and let the piece truly sparkle.

Reminders:

• The Mahopac Side by Side concert is officially moved to Thursday, November 21. Call time will be 4:00 pm. The first rehearsal after the concert on November 18 will be devoted to the final preparations for that performance.
• Ads are due this Monday, October 21. Please be sure to bring a completed ad form with each ad. I need one ad form for each ad. Anything short of that (including sending an email instead of submitting an ad form) creates a risk that I will screw up. And we don’t want that. I base the program on the ad form papers. Thanks for helping me with this. (You can download additional forms from the Resources Page.)

Lastly, if you are free Friday evening, Mallory Thompson is conducting the first Northwestern University SWE concert at 8:30 pm EDT. The program includes the Artunian Trumpet Concerto, which we are performing in February with Bill Owens. Go to: www.pickstaiger.org/webcasts to see/hear the concert.

Have a great weekend. Practice diligently. See you Monday.

Thanks for another great rehearsal last Monday. I have some notes below. This coming Monday night I will hand out updated parts to the ninth movement of the Avshalomov (sent recently by the composer) and the “missing parts” to finish the first movement of the Whitacre. I have updated the Rehearsal This Week page to reflect the rehearsal plan for October 14; note we will rehearse the National Anthem and Armed Forces Salute. Also, please visit the Resources page to download the current Ad Form, 2013-2014 Brochure, and see the overall repertoire plan. Please share the brochure in emails and on social media, and consider selling an ad.

Notes on last week’s rehearsal:

• It is critical that we are able to zero in on the tempo in the Marquez, immediately at the start. I still feel that we are struggling to find it. I feel that the conversation between the melodies and countermelodies is developing, but want to encourage everyone to listen, listen, listen! I will have only one more opportunity to rehearse this before I pass it on to Rick Guillen on October 28.
• The program elements of the Whitacre are starting to come together. I am concerned about the eighth note clusters m.34-59; I don’t yet feel enough of a wave of sound of each set of eighths as they enter the texture, crescendo, diminuendo, and leave the texture. Each one needs to have a definitive, identifiable color as it comes and goes. I just don’t sense this yet – do you? We also need practice on the progressive acceleration created by the drag triplets-eighth notes-quintuplets-sextuplets in m.149-150 and 153-154. This is quite difficult to pull off.
• Capriccio really needs the soloist at this point. Anthony will be here on October 28. Next week will be our last shot without him. I think the understanding of the tutti and solo sections helps. The roughest part of the piece is still the end, where the technical demands for the ensemble are the toughest.
• I like where the Mackey is going. I think the reference to last Monday’s beautiful sky struck a chord (pun intended) with many of us. I think we have more clarity in the opening and closing sections, which are the trickiest. It’s definitely going in the right direction.
• The Avshalomov has so many challenges. The composer has crammed 10 extremely different textures, emotions, and colors into the compact moments. This coming week will be our final detailed rehearsal on two movements (IX and X). I will hand out the updated parts for movement IX. Next week we will tackle five movements at a time (I-V on October 21, VI-X on October 28). We will need to be ready to transition quickly and smoothly from movement to movement, and this will be especially challenging for the percussion section. Without preparation, the transition time between the movements could actually be longer than the individual movements themselves!
• Recognizing the difference in enunciation between “Bridish” and “British” made a huge difference in the sound of the Sullivan. It was brighter and perkier and more ebullient. That’s exactly what the piece needs. Keep working on the technical challenges inherent in the parts — it’s paying off.

Oh, I almost forgot . . . the Good News/Bad news! Well, the bad news is that the Association of Concert Bands lost the sponsorship of the main host band for the 2014 convention (the Allentown Band), and consequently lost the concert hall as well. The remaining hosts have moved the convention performances to the Allentown Holiday Inn, and reduced the number of performing ensembles to six. (For comparison, there were six bands that performed on just one day of the 2012 convention.) We received notice that we are not among the six bands selected. There was a personal note added to the notification letter stating that we are first in line if any band should not accept the invitation. However, the Board is not eager to accept that secondary invitation, should it be extended. I just can’t see asking you all to make the personal journeys and two-hour drives to Allentown to play in the Holiday Inn Ballroom. If you feel differently, please make your feelings known to a Board member.

The good news is that we have received a formal written invitation to perform as the featured ensemble on the Fourth of July concert at the Caramoor Festival! And we reached a financial agreement with the festival which will generously cover our expenses. We have to finalize negotiations on the program, but I feel comfortable with our position on program. This is a huge milestone for our organization. This is an extremely popular event, and we can only imagine it will be a sell-out. We will reach a huge new segment of the Westchester audience who have never heard our group, and will have the opportunity to draw them into our subscription concerts for 2014-2015. Does anyone know if a concert band or wind ensemble has ever performed at Caramoor? To my knowledge, there are none. Start to tell your family and friends and spread the word that we will be performing at this prestigious venue!

Sell ads! Circulate the brochure through email, Facebook, and Twitter! Buy the 2012-2013 CD’s! We need your active participation to continue the amazing momentum that has brought this ensemble to this point! I’m looking forward to seeing you again on Monday evening.

Thanks for a great rehearsal Monday. You always strengthen my heart and soul with the energy and joy you bring with you each week. The rehearsal schedule for Monday, October 7 is posted.

Instead of specific comments on each piece this week, I want to encourage you to think about the art of collective listening that is required to make our rehearsals successful. Do you have a vivid memory of your characteristic sound last Monday? Do you have a memory of your section sound, of the total ensemble sound — and your place within that whole? I want to invite you to come this week armed and be ready to listen with more detail and more energy.

This past Tuesday, I rehearsed the simple canon, Dona Nobis Pacem, with my little orchestra at Masters. I told them that we are going to memorize this piece and perform it with three soloists (in canon) followed by the rest of the ensemble continuing the canon. I invited soloists to audition in front of the ensemble by playing the canon from memory. It was amazing to observe the “hear a pindrop” atmosphere and collective consciousness which materialized when these students played one at a time. Suddenly, everyone was listening for every note, every pulse, every attack and release, every point of intonation. The act of collective listening was palpable.

Can we bring that level of listening collectively and energetically to our rehearsals? Let’s put the challenge before us.

See (and hear) you Monday!