• Schedule for the week
• Promote tickets — we do not yet have a full house!
• Okechukwu notes
• Excelsior Orchestra on 11/21

This week

As is our custom, we have a regular rehearsal on Monday evening and the dress rehearsal on Wednesday evening. NOTE: The dress is Wednesday, not Saturday morning, as we’ve done some years.

See the home page for the detailed rehearsal schedule for Monday, Wednesday, and performance day on Sunday. If you are an Ithaca College alum, please consider wearing your Ithaca swag on Wednesday, when Daniel Cook is with us, to take a group photo. We’d also like to take a flute section photo with Mindy Kauffman on Wednesday evening.

Promote tickets

Post the flyers, send the promotional materials in emails (see the post from last week for details), shout it from the rooftops! We need to see an increase in ticket sales so this debut performance lives up to the hype!

Notes for the Okechukwu Fanfare

I went through these quickly last week. Please read these notes about dynamics in the Okechukwu Fanfare and add them to your parts. Please do this before Monday night. These edits are meant to solidify the dynamics for a dynamic performance.

Excelsior Orchestra performance in Diller Hall, Saturday evening, November 21

Yes, Virginia, there is an Excelsior performance in Diller Hall the night before our concert. It is a huge program, including the Bernstein Symphonic Dances from West Side Story. I’m not sure I can make it because I’m hosting dinner for Innocent Okechukwu, but check out their website for info in case you’d like to attend.

• Rehearsal plans for all remaining rehearsals/performance are posted.
• Ticket sales — Send THIS to all your friends!
• Westchester Magazine is paying attention to WSW.

Remaining rehearsal plans are posted for November 9, 16, 18, & 22

Please visit the home page of my blog at wsw.ebernet.biz to review the plans for all remaining rehearsals leading up to the Fall Concert. Do everything possible to be present for these important final rehearsals!

Ticket sales — what you can do to push sales forward!

Rebecca and the Communications Committee are doing a great job with social media posts. If you are a regular user, please stop doom scrolling when you reach our posts and forward them from your own page or directly to friends.

If you are not a social media user, just do this:

1. Compose an email to friends, family, neighbors, and anyone in between who you think would enjoy this amazing concert. Personalize the content however you’d like. Then copy/paste the text and graphic below.
2. Optional: Include the coupon codes published on Slack to trigger the half-price Friends & Family rates which apply to General Admission tickets.
3. Hit SEND. If possible, in a week or so, send a follow up email to the same group.

I am a proud member of the Westchester Symphonic Winds! We open our 39th season with a milestone performance on Sunday, November 22, 2026 at 3:00 pm in our new home: Diller Hall in The Allen Center for the Creative Arts and Technology at Hackley School in Tarrytown, New York. Titled Connections, this inaugural concert for WSW at Diller Hall celebrates the intricate connections among people, places, and experiences that create vibrant musical tapestries and strengthen community ties.
I ask you to consider attending this amazing program! You can order tickets here, and you can read more about this amazing ensemble here.
I hope to see  you on November 22 at 3:00 pm at Diller Hall in Tarrytown!

WSW featured in Westchester Magazine digital edition this week

Deb Dashnaw noticed that we were featured in Westchester Magazine this week. The caption is a bit odd, but our photo is at the top of the article!

Westchester Magazine actually contacted us, requesting information to be included in this article. Kudos and gratitude go out to Rebecca Weissman for following up on our behalf. It’s also interested to note that we are the only wind ensemble mentioned in this article titled “8 Orchestra Groups to Enjoy in Westchester County.”

Thanks, everyone, for a very productive rehearsal last week on the Winter rep. I know that Delia Starr was very grateful for the attentive reading of her first composition for band. Thank you for giving her this special gift. And I felt you exuding some special energy on the Shostakovich. It will really be an exciting closer!

This week, we start to count down the final three rehearsals before our Fall dress rehearsal. Please come prepared to these final rehearsals and ready to work!

The rehearsal plan is posted here. See you on Monday!

AND . . . remember to plan to VOTE on Tuesday if you have not already done so in early voting!

Well, actually this time around, it really is my circus.

Rehearsal this Monday, October 26

On Monday evening, we are reading and rehearsing four of the anchor works for our January 31 concert, “Circus Antics.” We are doing this for two reasons: 1) Give a bit of a diversion from the Fall Concert preparation to re-invigorate our work together, and 2) Kick off the Winter Concert rep a bit early and get some basic work done, just in case weather plays a role in our rehearsal schedule.

See the rehearsal plan posted here. If you have not yet done so, download the two Mackey works, Starr, and Shostakovich here.

This an especially exciting rehearsal, as we will be working on Three-ring, by Delia Starr, our guest composer for the Winter Concert, with Jessica Stein-Natale conducting. This is Delia’s first work for band, having attended young composers’ workshops at both Tanglewood and Berklee. Our performance will be the preview of the premiere at Haldane High School in April, as she finishes up her senior year under Jessica’s direction. This is a ground-breaking project in many ways, and we are thrilled to be a part of Delia’s journey as a young composer.

Ads – bring final forms, copy, payments on Monday

If you missed last Monday’s deadline, please bring these materials on Monday so I can start putting the 2026-2027 book together.

Tickets, tickets, TICKETS!

Please send friends, neighbors, and everyone else you know to our ticketing page at:
www.westchestersymphonicwinds.org/ticketing
Remind them that season tickets will no longer be available after the Fall Concert, so they should consider this option before it expires. Also, the Friends & Family codes (for both season tickets and Fall Concert only) are posted on Slack. Go to #_general_band_chat and tap the heading to reveal Pins. You’ll find the codes there.

Diller Hall seats 550, almost 300 less than TMH. It is a reasonable possibility to sell out the hall. Keep promoting the concert and sending folks to the ticketing site. Let’s fill up Diller to start our residency!