Unbelievably, this is our last rehearsal in September. I’m concentrating on the 3rd & 4th movements of the Holst and six movements of PAAE this week. Check out the rehearsal order. I constructed the rehearsal plan so players who do not play all of the movements may leave as they finish (but please move quietly to clear your chairs/stands as you go).

Ads!!! Please download ad forms here and promote them with friends, relatives, and complete strangers. Submit completed forms, payments, and digital media to Tom Sweezey, who is helping me collect and organize it all this year. Deadline for submitting ads is Monday, October 17. Please consider pooling resources, taking a photo, and submitting a section ad. It’s a great morale booster and really makes our program book fun!

I’ve updated both the grid and calendar versions of our rehearsals. Please note these changes/exceptions to rehearsals at TMH:

• On October 17, we will rehearse at Port Chester HS.
• We will rehearse on Wednesday, November 2 (instead of Monday, October 31) at New Rochelle HS.
• The performance at the NYSBDA Symposium is confirmed on March 4. We’ll distribute hotel and transportation information as soon as it’s available.

Enjoy the beautiful weekend! But don’t forget to squeeze in some extra practice before Monday!

Schedule updates

Last week, we discussed the challenges posed by October rehearsal conflicts and our invitation to perform at the NYSBDA Symposium on March 4, 2017. The results:

• We WILL rehearse on Monday, October 3. Those observing the holiday should contact David Church and will be excused.
• We will NOT rehearse on Halloween, but WILL rehearse instead on Wednesday, November 2 (site TBA).
• We will proceed to determine member-by-member participation in the NYSBDA Symposium performance on March 4 in Syracuse, via the form below. I urge everyone who does not have an unavoidable conflict to participate, as this is a great honor to be invited.

Forms to complete

• Please click here to complete a short form to confirm your participation in the rehearsal on November 2 and performance on March 4. Please complete this before rehearsal this coming Monday, September 19.
• A don’t forget to order your 2015-2016 CD’s, thumbdrives, or SD cards. We’re only pressing copies to cover those that order, so we avoid losing money. So don’t miss your chance!

Rehearsal plan

I’ve updated the rehearsal plan for Monday night on my main page at https://wsw.ebernet.biz. (Click on Aubrey Fanfare for a surprise.) You’ll also notice I (finally) updated some of the photos on my site. See you Monday!

In this post:

• Rehearsal plan for Monday
• October rehearsal conflicts & NYSBDA symposium
• 2015-2016 recording compilation – new options
• Mussorgsky playlist
• My Austin trip

Planning for Monday

I’m looking forward to seeing everyone and getting back in the swing of things on Monday. The rehearsal plan is posted. We’ll be reading through everything, except the Clarke; I just don’t think it’s necessary at this point when we just performed it at Caramoor in July.

I sent a separate email out to everyone with David Church’s new email address. Please let me know if you didn’t receive it.

For discussion Monday

Beyond reading through the entire program, we need to discuss the situation with October’s rehearsal conflicts, and come to a group decision about October 3 & 31, as well as the proposed performance at the NYSBDA Symposium on March 4 in Syracuse.

Not just CD’s anymore

This year our recording engineer, Richard Price at Candlewood Digital, has offered two additional options for our 2015-2016 recording compilation. In addition to traditional CD’s, he is now also offering the same content on thumbdrives and SD cards, for those of you who don’t have CD players anymore and access recordings via computer. These media will contain all the CD-quality WAV files, plus MP3 files (ready for transfer to phones and media players) and all the CD graphics (including program and personnel). And the cost is the same as the past for all options: $30 for the CD, thumbdrive, or SD card. Click here to read more details and place your order for the 2015-2016 compilation. 

Last year, more players raised hands than actually purchased the CD’s, so we will base the order on this list. IMPORTANT: If you signed up on Marge’s clipboard last spring, you must place your order again via this form, because of the added media options.

Pictures at an Exhibition playlist

Don’t forget the Study Playlist with the piano, orchestral, and wind ensemble versions of the Mussorgsky. I hope everyone will listen to these recordings over the next several weeks. It’s a great resource. (You can also find that page from wsw.ebernet.biz > Selected Recordings.)

Austin, Aubrey, and Mickey

I also want to share a moving story about my trip to Austin in August. As you know, my dear friend, Tim Tull, was killed in a tragic accident last September. Tim had been the archivist for his father’s manuscripts, scores, parts, photos, programs, recordings and correspondence (see fishertull.com, which Tim created). After Tim’s death, the archive of Fisher Tull (known to family and friends as Mickey) was transferred to Tim’s sister, Jennifer Tull, in Austin.

Austin, August 20, 2016: Jack, Jennifer, Aubrey, and me

Jennifer invited me to Austin in mid-August to help her sort through and organize all this material. She also invited one of her father’s private students, Jack Stamp, the same weekend. I was so very glad to finally meet Jack after all these years, and he was an invaluable help in determining what would stay and what should be discarded, and he shared many great stories as well. (For instance, I never knew that March for Tripod was written in honor of a three-legged dog!)

I had already programmed three of Jack’s compositions for the coming season: Aubrey Fanfare (Fall opener, named for Mickey’s middle name and granddaughter), Four Maryland Songs (Winter concert, with Daniella Prepis), and The Star Spangled Banner (Fall encore, in honor of the 15th anniversary of 9-11). So, the photo of Jack, Jennifer, Aubrey, and me is especially meaningful. In addition, Jack expressed interest in coming to Tarrytown as a guest conductor, and so he is now booked for May 2018, at our 30th Gala Concert. Truly exciting in every way!

Enjoy the weekend — see you Monday!

Our first rehearsal is less than two weeks away, on Monday, September 12, at 7:30 pm at TMH. This post includes important information regarding:

• Auditions for new members
• Rehearsals
• Repertoire for the new season
• Invitation to perform for NYSBDA Symposium

Auditions

David Church, our new Personnel Manager, has been working diligently over the summer to help me prepare for our new member auditions on September 6. At at this time, I would welcome any additional qualified Bb clarinet candidates that you might recommend. (Matt Kowalski has decided not to return this season, and so we have two clarinet spots we’re trying to fill.) If you have a clarinetist to recommend, please send me their contact information and I will pass it on to David.

Rehearsals

In September, we are rehearsing on Mondays on September 12, 19, and 26.

There are several Monday holidays in October. The Board is working to resolve the rehearsal which falls on the second night of Rosh Hashanah, October 3. We will rehearse on Columbus Day, October 10. The Board is also working to resolve the issue of Halloween, October 31. And we must find an alternate site for Monday, October 17, which is not available at TMH. We will alert you as these matters are resolved.

Our Fall dress rehearsal is Saturday, November 5, 10:00 am to 1:00 pm, and the concert is Sunday, November 6, 1:00 pm sound check, 3:00 performance.

Repertoire

I’m very excited about our 29th Season repertoire. You can find the entire program listing here. Our annual brochure is at the printer, and we will be mailing these out next week. If you have names/addresses you’d like to add to our hard-copy brochure mailing list, please send them to me by September 6. 

Our Fall program, “Impressions and Memories,” will feature the new Paul Lavender arrangement of Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition. Yes, all 15 movements will constitute the entire second half of the program. This is a unique opportunity to play a superior new arrangement of this monumental work. (I have been careful with the programming of the first half of the concert to balance the overall program.)

As many of you know, Mussorgsky wrote this suite originally for piano in 1874. Ravel orchestrated the work in 1922. Paul Lavender created this new transcription of Ravel’s orchestration in 2012, which was premiered by the US Marine Band, “The President’s Own,” at the Texas Bandmasters Association Convention.

In order to truly understand the work, we all need to experience the development of each movement from its original piano version to the Ravel orchestration to the Lavender transcription. I have created a page with a play list which lines all these up, movement by movement. This is not something you’ll want to listen to in one sitting, but I urge everyone to listen to these comparative recordings. It will help so much with your understanding of the development of this transcription!

NYSBDA Symposium Performance

The New York State Band Directors Association sponsors an annual March symposium with clinics, a keynote address, student honor bands, and guest ensembles. The Saturday night anchor concert is always a guest ensemble of high reputation, and recently has included the Ithaca College Wind Ensemble, the Ithaca College Concert Band, and the Crane School of Music Wind Ensemble. And we have been invited to perform in 2017!

The proposed one hour concert would be performed on Saturday, March 4 at 8:00 pm at the Liverpool Holiday Inn Convention Center in Liverpool, NY (next to Syracuse). We would have a sound check at 6:00 pm. I would draw the program from works on the January 29 and May 20 programs.

The Board considered the invitation and voted to pass this on to the membership for consideration. We will discuss this in detail at our first rehearsal on September 12, and we will need to poll the group for a final decision and respond soon thereafter. Although the invitation is pending, another ensemble may be considered if we do not respond in a timely manner.

If you have specific questions which may affect your decision to participate in this proposed NYSBDA performance, please send them to me, and I’ll try to answer them in my next post.

Have a great week, and a great Labor Day holiday! I’m eager to see you all on September 12 and get to work!