This week:

• Rehearsal Monday at UUFNW / Rehearsal chairs
• Rep underwriting link – please share
• Advance notes for Maslanka #4
• Laubin Oboes, Ruthie Garcia, and Scott Bernitt in the New York Times

Rehearsal Monday

It’s almost impossible to find a space to rent for rehearsal on a national holiday (as we’ve learned over the past years), so our access to UUFNW is very fortunate this year on MLK day. As needed, set your GPS to ​236 South Bedford Road, Bedford, NY 10506.

Remember to bring a music stand. As our departure from TMH continues to unfold, we will have standards and procedures to discuss heading into the February 4 dress and February 8 concert.

I contacted Keith Kile, and he will be joining us on Monday to rehearse movement 3 with Alex Gray on the podium. I am sure this will help advance the piece a great deal.

Regarding the chairs at UUFNW: If you find them a bit uncomfortable, you’re not alone. For now, the best solutions are: 1) Sit at the front of the chair, with your tusch on the highest point so you don’t sink into the lowest point at the back, or 2) Consider bringing your favorite folding chair. The board will be looking at potential long-term solutions for this issue.

Donor Relations Committee has been at work – please share!

Our Donor Relations Committee is repeating the repertoire underwriting project through GiveButter.com. It’s our hope to draw outside donors into our circle with this low-impact entry-level fund-raising campaign. Please share this link with friends & family who have attended our concerts and may want to take a step toward becoming more involved:
https://mailchi.mp/westchestersymphonicwinds/winterrepauction

This linked communication also has a reminder for the Box Office link. The Friends & Family coupon code is posted on Slack, and I will repeat it again at rehearsal on Monday.

A few notes about the Maslanka Symphony for May

We were able to secure the rental of the symphony with the credit we earned from the 2020 rental, because we never performed it due to the pandemic. The parts have arrived and I’ll be able to share the parts soon.

I’m hoping that our clinician from 2020 will revisit the “babies” solos with the clarinets to assist in preparing those parts. I will be asking interested players to prepare the solos and audition to perform these solos at the concert. There are solos for the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd clarinet parts. More as that develops. And Matt Maslanka is definitely interested in coming out to work with us in at least one — possibly two — clinic rehearsals.

By the way, the family prefers their name to be pronounced mass-‘lang-kuh, not mass-‘long-kuh. Read more about David, and his son, Matt, at davidmaslanka.com.

Laubin Oboes in the NYT!

This is an amazing article about A.Laubin LLC, posted this week on January 14. Two members of WSW — Ruthie Garcia and Scott Bernitt — work at Laubin. Ruthie works in Operations/Sales and Scott works in production/key making at the new operations facility in Holmes, New York. Both are mentioned in the article, and you can see and hear Ruthie playing in the online article!

You may remember that the owner of Laubin Oboes, Jim Phelan, came to one of our rehearsals at Knights of Columbus to speak about Laubin entry-level oboes for schools. Consider contacting him or Ruthie if are in the market to buy a reliable instrument for your school.

I’ll bring the Arts & Leisure hard copy to rehearsal on Monday. Please join me in congratulating Ruthie & Scott!

Gratitude

I want to thank Jessica, Jasmine, Alex, and all members of the ensemble for helping to make last Monday’s rehearsal so productive and positive. I feel like a bit of a musical Sisyphus at this point, so all of your support, patience, and vigor in the face of many obstacles is really appreciated.

Rehearsal at New Rochelle HS tomorrow night

In our efforts to rotate rehearsals among our various available venues to support those who drive longer distances, we’re rehearsing at New Rochelle HS tomorrow night. Use 11 Braemer Avenue on your GPS, park in the lots by the tennis courts. Music stands are not needed, as the band room has adequate equipment, but if you have a favorite stand of your own, you’re always welcome to bring it.

The rehearsal plan is posted.

Tickets for February 8

The Music Hall has posted the Box Office URL for purchasing tickets for February 8. It is:
https://tickets.tarrytownmusichall.org/eventperformances.asp?evt=3127
Feel free to share the Box Office site URL liberally. The coupon code for the $21 Friends & Family tickets is published in the WSW Members workspace on Slack. I’ll also announce it at rehearsal tomorrow night.

Brass condensation at future UUFNW rehearsals

The board approved the purchase of a large box of absorbent doggie pads for brass players to empty water keys at future rehearsals at the Unitarian church. The shipment has arrived, and I’ll bring them to the next rehearsal there on January 19. We can store them at UUFNW in the percussion room to use as needed.

I hope everyone has enjoyed the holidays so far. The New Year brings some particular challenges for me, and this affects all of us. Please be sure to read all of this post.

Percussion move

First, please join me in thanking Eric Milkie and the crew of volunteers who moved all of our WSW percussion equipment out of TMH on December 20, and transferred it to the storage area at the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Northern Westchester. This was the only viable storage possibility for us in order to meet the December 31 deadline. Please help me to thank Eric and his crew: Mike Benoit, his daughter Ava Benoit, Diane Surís, Chris Larsen, Nate Brewster,  and Russ Ebersole.

As announced, the board voted to accept the offer presented by UUFNW. Our percussion is now stored there, and we will alternate rehearsals between that site, White Plains HS, and New Rochelle HS. It is our intention to rotate around among these sites to try to be as fair to all members’ travel as possible.

January rehearsals

The sites for our upcoming rehearsals will be as follows:
January 5 – UUFNW*
January 12 – New Rochelle HS
January 19 – UUFNW*
January 26 – White Plains HS
February 2 – UUFNW*
February 4/Dress rehearsal – TMH**
February 8/Sound check & performance – TMH**
* Please bring a music stand. This can be your adopted WSW stand if you wish.
** Please bring all adopted WSW stands for this dress and performance.

We have acquired the acoustician report created for UUFNW from 2018. We will have an acoustician visiting the January 5 rehearsal to listen and then hopefully make some recommendations to deaden and balance the sound in the room.

Conducting reassignments for the Winter Concert

In late December, I was diagnosed with a basal cell carcinoma about 3 inches below my left collar bone. The surgeon determined that I am an excellent candidate for Mohs surgery, and he expects a full recovery. However, I found myself in a position in which I could not delay this surgery, and so it is scheduled for January 5. The surgeon told me that I will not be able to exercise or conduct for four weeks after the surgery, to allow for the site to heal completely, but it is my hope to return to conducting with my right hand only after two weeks of complete rest. In order to facilitate this development, I recruited help and have made some reassignments for conducting on the Winter Concert.

• I will conduct the Mackey, Beckel, Nelhybel mvmnt II, and Barker on this concert. Jessica and Alex Gray will assist me to rehearse these works through January 19, then I plan to take over for the final rehearsals and concerts. In these first three rehearsals, Jessica and Alex will conduct, and I will coach from the sidelines. (“Coach” and “Sidelines” were never words I ever thought I’d use in a self-description!)
• Devon will continue his rehearsals and will conduct the Sheldon at the performance. Jessica will now conduct all the rehearsals and performance of the Dunton and Nelhybel mvment III. Jasmine Britt, our guest conductor, will rehearse and perform the Barfield as scheduled, but will also take on the rehearsals and performance of the Nelhybel mvment I.

I am extremely grateful to Jessica, Alex, Jasmine, and Devon for stepping up to assist me during these next weeks in January. Thank you!

In order to help everyone anticipate what will be happening within these new conducting assignments, I have planned all the rehearsals from and including January 5 through the dress rehearsal on February 4. January 5 is already posted on the home page, but please click here to see the plans for the remaining rehearsals.

Midwest Clinic 2025

I had a very successful trip to Chicago earlier this month for the 79th annual Midwest. My clinic presentation, “Architecture & Inspiration: the Percy Grainger Home & Studio,” was very well attended and very successful. The Grainger Society would now like me to reprise this clinic at the Grainger Symposium in Provo, Utah in March and the NYSSMA convention next December.

I connected with many composers and conductors at Midwest this year. The most noteworthy meeting was with Viet Cuong, which was extremely positive and productive. I’ll reflect on this in person on January 5. I also spoke with Matt Maslanka and gained a number of insights about our performance of his father’s Symphony No. 4, and also made initial plans for a rehearsal collaboration with Dr. Daniel Cook and the Ithaca College Wind Ensemble, who will perform the same symphony a month ahead of us in April. And the closing concert was a special performance by the Northshore Concert Band, a thrilling performance which brought the attendees to their feet.

Symphony No. 4 on May 9

The rental parts from Presser have arrived, and I will post the parts asap on my home page. I’m making plans with Manny Ramos to help the clarinets prepare for the “babies” solos and will share that information when finalized. We have two Mondays off between the Winter Concert and the first rehearsal for the Spring Concert on March 23. Please plan now to use that time to prepare the Maslanka parts for that first rehearsal — especially the bebop section.

Monday, December 15 – full rehearsal at TMH

This will be our final Monday night rehearsal at the Music Hall. The rehearsal plan is posted.

IMPORTANT: Everyone please plan to take 2 music stands home with you after rehearsal. We are hoping everyone can take 2. If you can take more than 2, please plan to do so to help others who may not be able to do so. If your vehicle can only accommodate 1 stand, we still appreciate your help!

We will record (by name) the stands everyone takes. We will start to do all this at about 9:20 pm, while seated on stage, avoiding the certain mayhem that would ensue if we’d try to do this as everyone exits out the stage door, and still get everyone out by 9:45. We will ask everyone to bring these stands back to TMH for the February dress rehearsal/performance, and then take them home again until the May dress/performance.
Horns – Please plan to take one stand and one sound reflector. We also need at least one volunteer to take the wooden reflector stands.
Percussion – You should not take any stands because of all the other equipment that we must move.

Saturday, December 20 at 1:00 pm – Percussion move out of TMH.

• Speak to Eric Milkie or Chris Larsen if you can volunteer to help.
• Specifics will be shared via Slack with those who volunteered.

Mondays, December 22 and December 29 – No rehearsals. Happy Holidays!

Monday, January 5 – Rehearsal, site TBA.

• Site will be announced as soon as possible.
• Plan on a major focus on Beckel II and III at this rehearsal.

What happens in January?

Thank you to the 36 members who replied to the feedback form from last week’s rehearsal at UUFNW. The board read all results and comments, and met this past Wednesday to discuss our options. Hopefully I will receive the reply we need in order for the board to make a final decision by Monday evening, and then announce it and discuss with everyone.

We have found ourselves at a major crossroads, and crossroads are never easy. They test our mettle, but they often also bring out the best in us. Regardless of the path we take in January, the board is committed to continue to research options for rehearsals, storage, and performances for the future, in order to meet the needs and expectations of our members. Thank you for sticking with us so we can continue to share the best musical experiences for both you and our audiences.