This mid-July post includes a lot of news, announcing changes, concert dates, and calls to action, including:
- A heart-felt good-bye
- Link to The Palace photos
- Season philosophy description/philosophy
- Concert commitment form (very important!)
- Call for military bands support
- Temple University conducting workshop
So find a comfy seat, pour a glass of wine, and read on!
Wishing the best to Claudia
Last week, Claudia made a very difficult phone call, when she called me to say that the timeline for selling their home, following her husband’s retirement, had sped ahead far ahead of expectations. Working closely with Claudia over the past 8 years, I relied on her for so very, very much in her role as Personnel Manager. Her musicianship and expertise will be missed in our clarinet section, but her track record with personnel has set a high bar for her successor. Claudia wrote this message and asked me to share it with you:
Dear WSW Friends,
It is with very mixed emotions that I announce to all of you that I will not be returning to WSW in the fall. Last week, I tendered my resignation to Curt, Jim, and the Board, citing the fact that my husband, who is finally retiring, and I, will be relocating to Colorado to be closer to our family/grandchildren. This move has come about much sooner than we ever anticipated due to the very unexpected quick sale of our home in Bethel, CT. With the down market in the area, we had figured to be here another 6-9 months at the very least.
Sixteen years ago, my husband, a biochemist, was transferred in his job from Elkhart, Indiana, to Tarrytown. This was not a move that I initially embraced as I was very comfortable in my rewarding private teaching and playing career in “The Band Instrument Capital of the World.” Factor in that we knew no one here in the northeast, and that all of our family were elsewhere. It was a rough transition for me, but I eventually found HVWS and Rob LaPorta on the internet, and as they say, the rest is history. WSW has now been a huge part of my life for over twelve years — twelve years of unparalleled musical experiences, memories, and friendships that I would never have known otherwise. I know the group will continue to thrive under the incredible leadership of Curt and the Board; it has been real pleasure serving with them and, of course, with you. To say that I will miss each and every one of you would be a vast understatement. Indeed, you became the family that I did not have here.
All of this being said, we are ready for the next step in life’s journey. Ken and I have worked hard and are now really looking forward to being with our children and grandchildren. I am not exactly sure of our timeline — there are still details to work out — but it is looking like we will be leaving mid- to late-September. There is the possibility that I may still see you before that time, but in the event that I don’t, I want to wish you all the very best for the future, and I thank you from the bottom of my heart for all the wonderful memories and friendship we have shared.
Take care, and please keep in touch — you all know my email and phone.
Claudia/Clarinetta
Knowing that this is a critical transitional time in our annual calendar, we acted quickly to find and name her replacement. Thanks to the suggestions and assistance of both Claudia and Jim, I am very pleased to welcome David Church, who has been approved by the Board as our next Personnel Manager. David will be assuming Claudia’s duties immediately, and will be working with me through the rest of the summer to prepare next year’s roster and set up our September auditions.
Palace photos
Katie Settel, who took photos at The Palace on June 19, has made those photos available to the Board for our use on the website and in publicity materials. All the photos are also available to you for purchase, at a 20% discount.
Click here to go to Katie’s photo site. If you would like to purchase hard copies, select the photos you’d like, go to the Shopping Cart, and type in 8NQGP in the “Apply a Coupon” field for the discount. But hurry, these photos will only be available for purchase until July 27!
The 29th Season
I want to take a minute to describe my philosophy for the 2016-2017 season, both to exhilarate you and also to allay your fears. The past two seasons have truly been “ramped up” in order to focus our skills and performance values forward to the two June Exchange Concerts, and the difficulty and challenges of the repertoire have been aligned accordingly. My goal this year is to continue to challenge you, but not to overwhelm you. There is no goal here to take a season filled with 3 subscription concerts plus a benefit concert plus hosting the Exchange Concert plus Caramoor, and somehow find a way to pile on more. Instead, I want to plan repertoire that will challenge you, excite you and our audiences, continue to build our individual and ensemble skills, but keep it in line with our mission statement and goals. We still have much work to do — and our next anniversary season is only a year away — and so I will be planning this season carefully as a follow-through to the past and a springboard to the future.
Concert Commitment Form
It’s time to ask you all to commit to this season’s dress rehearsal and concert dates. These dates were announced and have also been posted on this site’s home page. Paul Rosenblum has officially invited us back to Caramoor on July 1, 2017, so that concert is once again in ink.
Please click here to go to the Google Form, and complete this information by next Wednesday, July 27, so we have an accounting our personnel situation before our Board meeting on July 28. It is best (and easiest) to complete this with a desktop computer, rather than your phone or tablet. And you want to have your calendar with you to confirm your availability and write in our dates. Again, please complete this form by next Wednesday, July 27. Otherwise, David will be contacting you, in his first act as Personnel Manager!
Looking ahead to September, we plan to hold the first rehearsal on Monday, September 12 at TMH.
Call to support Military Bands
You may have read that there is a proposed amendment to the Department of Defense budget which will eliminate off-site performances for all US military bands. Our friends and colleagues in these ensembles need our support. Here are two sites for more information, and links to sign a petition and write to your senators.
Our friends and neighbors responded to our recent GoFundMe.com campaign. I hope you’ll take 5 minutes to respond to this no-cost call to action to help us save this important national musical resource.
Temple Conducting Workshop
I had an amazing week in Philadelphia working side by side with Emily Threinen and Kevin Sedatole at Emily’s final event at Temple University. She has already moved to Minneapolis with her husband and 8-month old daughter, and is looking forward to this next stage of her career. She asked me specifically to convey her best wishes to you all.
Thanks for reading. I’ll be announcing the new season’s rep, along with guest conductors, guest soloists, and apprentice conductors in a few weeks.
Enjoy the beautiful summer weather, and we’ll look for your concert commitment form reply by next Wednesday.
