I’m going to take advantage of the fact that the full percussion section is available on Monday, January 2, and have a percussion sectional that evening instead of a full rehearsal. The timing is right, and we’ll tweak a number of issues effectively and efficiently. I wanted to let everyone know as soon as possible, so you can make alternate plans if you wish. Or you could stay home and practice!

That means the next full rehearsal is Monday, January 9 — which is also the next White Plains High School rehearsal date. I’ll remind everyone again in January, but thought I’d just put it out there now.

That’s it for now. Thank you for a tremendous fall season. I wish you all the very best for the holidays, and a happy and very healthy New Year!

Directions

See the Google Map below for directions. The rehearsal plan is posted. This is our last rehearsal of 2022; our next rehearsal is Monday, January 2 at TMH.

Interview with Omar Thomas scheduled for January 12

I have been very fortunate to schedule an interview with Omar Thomas via Zoom on Thursday afternoon, January 12 as part of a workshop I am offering during our Masters School Martin Luther King, Jr. Day Program. We will be discussing Of Our New Day Begun, his motivations as a composer, and the obstacles he’s encountered as a composer of color. I’m hoping to get some video clips of us rehearsing on January 2 & 9 to include in that workshop. I’ll record the Zoom and ask Omar for his permission to share it with you afterwards. This is an amazing opportunity, and I’m very grateful to Roland Davis, our Associate Head for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion for sponsoring this interview.

See separate email

Please check your email for a separate announcement, which will follow the publication of this post.

Directions to White Plains High School, 550 North Street, White Plains:

See map below. Use 550 North Street as GPS address. Cross street is Bryant Avenue, which has an exit directly off I-287. Although the address is North Street, it is easier to use the parking lot from the Bryant Avenue entrance because of one-way lanes on campus.
Enter from Bryant, then take the first right into the large parking lot. You’ll see the auditorium at the southeast corner of the parking lot. Depending on the weather, there may be a door propped open leading directly into the Auditorium from the parking lot; if not, use the double doors to the right, and walk around to your left.

Rehearsal Monday

First and foremost, the rehearsal plan for Monday evening at TMH is posted.

Absence form launched

You may have noticed that “The Book” — the 3-ring binder that had pages for logging anticipated future absences — has disappeared. We have replaced it with this WSW Absence Form. Going forward:

• If you anticipate an absence more than 24 hours ahead of time, please use this form to log your absence. This will help David keep his data organized and assist him with securing subs.
• If this is a last-minute emergency (24 hours or less ahead of rehearsal), please contact David directly by text or phone to advise him of your absence.
• Please remember that we ask all players to limit absences to two per cycle, and only for illness and personal/family obligations/emergencies that cannot be avoided.

I have posted this link on the home page of this blog as well, so you can easily access it in the future.

Tull errata

I found a list of score errata back in the 80’s, but I never knew there was a list of parts errata. I’m indebted to Andrew Dolgon for discovering this complete set of errata. Page 1 is score errata, but you can find the corrections for your particular part on pages 2-6. The corrections are organized in score order by instrument, so finding the errata for your particular part is easy. Please take a look at this and annotate the corrections by Monday. And join me in thanking Andrew!

Saxes for sale

No, this is not a post-Waignein fire sale. Dan Chiplock (WSW bari sax) is selling some professional level horns in case you or someone you know (like an area pro or advancing student) who might be interested.  Feel free to pass this information along to other area band directors or musicians: 

Three concerts of note this weekend

From our friend, Rob Freeberg: His Vermont Jazz Center Big Band concert is live-streaming tonight at 8:00 pm.

I will be directing the VT Jazz Center Big Band in a live-streamed concert featuring the music of Duke Ellington on Friday, December 2nd, at 8:00. The video will be on the VTJazz.org website for a few days after the performance, in case you miss it live. You may watch it for free, but all donations for this performance will benefit the VJC Scholarship Fund. You can read more about it here:

https://vtjazz.org/calendar/vjc-big-band-2022/

http://www.commonsnews.org/site/site05/story.php?articleno=36556

Lastly, Charles DePaul will conduct the Connecticut Symphonic Winds tomorrow evening:

December 12 rehearsal at WPHS

Finally, please remember that our rehearsal on Monday, December 12 will be held at White Plains High School, not at TMH. Directions and other details will be published in next week’s post.

I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday. Tomorrow night, we go back to work! See the posted rehearsal plan here. We have only 3 rehearsals remaining in 2022.

After you’ve done all your online shopping tomorrow, don’t forget that Tuesday is “Giving Tuesday,” and spread the word to friends via social media to support WSW one last time before the tax year ends. Check our Facebook and Instagram accounts for posts to share, and share the liberally! Rebecca will talk briefly about this as well tomorrow night. In addition, please remind friends and family that the November 6 concert is posted on our YouTube channel, and Eric is working through slicing the concert video into individual, searchable segments for each selection.

Lastly, and especially with shopping season upon us, please consider naming WSW as your Amazon Smile designee. There is no add-on charge to support our cause; it’s free money for WSW from Amazon. Just follow the link (another link you can share!) and point your Amazon Smile contributions to us, then use the smile.amazon.com link each time you shop (a critical step!) — and the compounded donations arrive automatically in our account.