Author Archives: Curt Ebersole

Monday, October 31 rehearsal CANCELLED

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Bjorn Olsson contacted us today. Because of the freak snowstorm, he has been forced to postpone tonight’s showing of The Rocky Horror Picture Show. He asked if we could possibly end our rehearsal early on Monday (Halloween) so they could reschedule the movie. I checked with Claudia, and we have more than 20% of the ensemble indicating that they will not be attending anyway on Monday evening. Therefore, I have made the decision to cancel the rehearsal on Monday evening, paving the way for Bjorn to reschedule the movie. I genuinely believe that we will be able to use Wednesday’s dress rehearsal to effectively make our final preparations for Sunday’s concert.

Please note:

  • Please write a quick email to Claudia to confirm that you have received this message.
  • I will check with Gary to see if we can set up the sound shells on Wednesday, and leave them up through Sunday. If he agrees, we will need help at 6:45 pm on Wednesday to set up the shells.
  • Please plan to stay until 10:00 pm if necessary on Wednesday, just in case.

Thanks — see you Wednesday!

Concert postponement

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Carl Orff's 20th century masterpiece

The Greater New York Wind Symphony concert, originally scheduled for this evening at 7:30 pm, has been postponed, due to the winter storm warning in our area. The concert will be produced tomorrow, Sunday, October 30 at 3:00 pm, at the same venue, Monroe-Woodbury High School, in Central Valley, New York. Just follow your credit card to Woodbury Commons Outlets, look up, and aim your car up the hill. You will see the original high school on the left (now the middle school), and the new high school (concert site) on the right.

Hopefully, you will not be digging out on Sunday, and can make time to attend. It stands to be a fantastic program, and these players deserve the best audience possible! I hope to see you there.

GNYWS concert this Saturday

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Our friends and colleagues in the Greater New York Wind Symphony have the first concert of their season this coming Saturday night, at 7:30 pm in the Monroe-Woodbury High School Auditorium (up the hill from Woodbury Commons, in Central Valley, NY). Our own Steve Austin plays principal trumpet in this ensemble, and Rick Regan, who stepped in for me to rehearse the Schönberg last spring, is the Conductor/Artistic Director.

The program is unique and exciting. It features Carl Orff’s 20th century masterpiece, Carmina Burana, with a 170-member chours, plus Grainger’s Lincolnshire Posy, and more.

The GNYWS is sharing the evening with us on April 26 at the ACB convention. They are performing in the slot right before us, at 7:30 pm that evening. Rick and I are swapping guest conducting spots that evening, with Rick at the helm of our Strange Humors, and I’m taking a turn at Lincolnshire with GNYWS. We have a tremendous opportunity to create a supportive relationship with the members of this very fine ensemble. I encourage you to join me and attend this Saturday’s concert.

Only 2 weeks to go!

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Our rehearsal this week features time devoted to our guest conductor, Joe Greco, and guest soloist, Rick Henly. Please read the posted rehearsal plan. I know that several members must be late for, or have called in to be absent for, October 31. So it’s critical to give Joe and Rick the time and focus they need this Monday.

On Thursday of this week, I open my concert season at NVOT with our Fall Instrumental Concert. It features my ninth grade Concert Band, upperclass Wind Symphony, the String Ensemble, and a standing performance of this year’s Marching Band. Of special note is the Wind Symphony, the programming for which includes the Clifton Williams Symphonic Dance #3. In addition, we are performing Un bel di, from Madama Butterfly, with our soloist for February, Kyunghee Kim. Kyunghee sang Simple Gifts and the soprano role in The Promise of Living in November 2010, and her rendition of this Puccini aria is absolutely thrilling. I programmed it this way to be a dress rehearsal of our performance with her (we are using the same arrangement).

If you would like to attend, click here for the directions to Northern Valley-Old Tappan. It is the same location where we had our clinic with Mallory Thompson.

See you Monday!