Congrats! And Caramoor parts are ready!

Congratulations!

I hope you share my joy as I reflect on Saturday’s concert. Our ensemble played with great focus, energy, technique, and musicianship throughout the concert. The Hindemith was especially fulfilling, and we received a great audience reaction specifically for the Symphony. I am very proud of your work! We’ll take a short bit of time on Monday evening at the start of rehearsal to reflect together.

The parts for Caramoor are posted and ready to download. We meet again next Monday, May 20 for our first Caramoor rehearsal. The rehearsal plan is posted on wsw.ebernet.biz. The rehearsal plan is a great checklist for making sure you have all the parts you need.

Long day here — I’m hitting the hay. See you Monday at TMH!
Curt

Performance week

Rehearsal, Dress rehearsal, Performance

We are rehearsing on Monday evening, then we have our dress rehearsal on Wednesday, and concert Saturday. There is a Taconic Opera Orchestra performance at 2:00 pm on Saturday, and they are using our risers, chairs, and stands. Hopefully, this will make for a smooth transition to our concert. The rehearsal plan is posted.

Hindemith rehearsal notes

I took extensive notes from listening to the recording of our rehearsal last week. Please open this Google Doc and mark your parts accordingly. This will save us a tremendous amount of time. I organized this by movement, with broad comments for Woodwinds, Brass, Percussion at the beginning of each movement section, followed by specific notes by instruments below. I tried to do this so you could scan quickly for notes your specific part, and not have to read the entire list of notes. I think you’ll find that Google Doc to be easier to follow than my original handwritten notes:

At the performance, I intend to speak to the audience before the Hindemith Symphony in Bb. Just launching into this work without any warning or explanation would leave the audience completely bewildered and flustered. My goal is that they will enjoy the work, not be frustrated by it. So on Monday I will hand out a short list of excerpts from the Symphony, and we will incorporate playing these excerpts during my comments. Don’t worry, I am being careful in my selection, so as not to tire you unduly before the actual performance.

This will be a challenging, exhausting, and thoroughly fulfilling week! I am so excited to share these final rehearsals and the performance with you, Chris Leslie, and Tim Robblee.

Looking ahead

  • There will be no rehearsal on Monday, May 13.
  • Parts for Caramoor will be uploaded and available by May 13. The first Caramoor rehearsal is Monday, May 20.
  • WSW is co-sponsoring the Wind Conducting Symposium on June 1 & 2. There are four wind ensemble lab sessions (morning/afternoon on each day), and 14 conductors are registered. We need players! If everyone could volunteer for one of the four sessions, we’d wrap up the personnel assignments very quickly. You can register as a performer here, or speak to Katherine.

Final rehearsals

I’m writing from Wakefileld, MA where I’m judging the sixth, and final, Worldstrides Heritage Festival of the season. It’s been a long but invigorating season, hearing some really wonderful ensembles.

We have two rehearsals left. That means: 1) Come prepared to work with diligent focus, and 2) Take the opportunity to hit up your friends and family and purchase tickets! The rehearsal plan is posted.

I video recorded last week’s rehearsal in segments. If you want to review any portion of it, there are four videos uploaded to this link. The sections of the rehearsal are indicated but I didn’t edit the lead/end downtime, so scrub through as needed.

I have heard from two member band directors who would like to have Tim Robblee visit their rehearsals for a clinic. If this interests anyone else, please contact me asap.

Back at TMH on Monday

Happy Passover to all those who are celebrating!

Rehearsal Monday at TMH

We are back at TMH on Monday, setting up and rehearsing at our regular times (7:00 pm setup, 7:30 pm rehearsal). The rehearsal plan is posted.

Tickets for May 11

You can purchase Friends & Family tickets from Marge in person, or send your friends and family members to our TMH ticketing page to purchase Friends & Family tickets there. (I’ll announce the coupon code separately.)

Final weeks of rehearsal

After Monday, we only have April 29 and May 5 rehearsals remaining, plus the dress rehearsal on May 7. Please plan accordingly for a full court press toward the final concert of the TMH season on Saturday, May 11 at 8:00 pm.