Thank you to everyone who was able to negotiate personal calendars to be able to attend our postponed rehearsal on Tuesday. I know this was tough for many members, especially those who had made travel plans around the Monday evening rehearsal. Mother Nature simply did not cooperate! Even with the limited personnel, we managed to accomplish a great deal.

Please remember that our rehearsals next week are Wednesday, February 24, 7:30-10:00 pm, and Saturday, February 27 (dress rehearsal), 10:00 am – 1:00 pm (we’ll likely end early). Sound check on Sunday, February 28 will be 1:00 pm, and the concert downbeat is 3:00 pm. There is no rehearsal on Monday, February 22, not because of weather, but because of TMH scheduling.

This coming Sunday: We have seven WSW members playing on this chamber music concert Sunday, February 21 at 2:00  p.m. at Trinity Episcopal Church, 7 South Highland Avenue (Rt. 9 & Rt. 133) in Ossining. Admission is free (offerings accepted for church expenses).  A reception follows the concert. Please consider attending — I know it will be a wonderful program!

I’ll update the rehearsal schedules for next Wednesday and Saturday in the next day or so. I’m looking forward to the final stages of our rehearsals and performance together on February 28! Keep spreading the word to invite newcomers to this program!

I collected info from the Board and percussion soloists, who represent a broad geographic sampling of the area. Everyone agrees that the snow and sleet/icy mix makes it difficult to travel safely to rehearsal tonight (even if you ski to get there). So we are postponing rehearsal to tomorrow evening, Tuesday, February 16, 7:30-10:00 pm. Percussion will still come at 6:30 pm for the interviews with Vince Galgano.

Please fill out the quick form below (or click here to arrive at the same form in a separate browser window) to indicate that (hopefully) you can attend tomorrow night. Thanks.

I hate to point this out, but the weather report is not good for tomorrow night. Currently, it calls for snow developing in the afternoon, changing to a “wintry mix” and eventually rain around midnight. But at this point the weather service is concerned about rush hour and what will happen when this precipitation hits the extremely cold ground.

Our first concern, of course, is for everyone’s safety. The decision to cancel last week turned out to be the right choice, and many players reflected how driving conditions were severely compromised last Monday (note my parking lot story below). But canceling another rehearsal at this critical point could be devastating.

And so yesterday I asked Rachel to check TMH for an alternate option this week, and Tuesday evening is available, should we need it. If we should have to cancel Monday night’s rehearsal, it will be rescheduled for Tuesday evening at TMH. I ask that everyone do whatever possible to make arrangements for the good of the cause, should we need to move to Tuesday. I realize this could be difficult for some, impossible for others. But I ask that you try. Missing a second week in a row would be devastating at this point.

Most importantly, be sure to recheck your email at 3:00 pm tomorrow; we will make a final decision by that point and send another message at that time. Please don’t leave for Tarrytown without checking your email!

I rewrote the rehearsal plan earlier this week. As I wrote earlier, please plan on working an additional 15 minutes, until 10:00 pm, regardless of whether the rehearsal is Monday or Tuesday.

*PLEASE NOTE: I went to TMH last Monday evening (icy roads on the hills in Tarrytown) to meet with the videographer who is helping us with the Daughtrey project. When I drove down Neperan Road toward TMH, I noticed that the CitiBank parking lot, in which many of us park every week, was closed and locked. A sign on the fence proclaimed “Private Property.” This lot has meters, so I am not sure what’s going on, but everyone who regularly parks there should consider an alternate plan, should this be permanent. I’ll try to find out what’s going on.

If you’ve read all this, you deserve a laugh to warm you up on this extremely cold day:
A note left for a pianist from his wife: Gone Chopin, (have Liszt), Bach in a Minuet.

Those of you who really know me, know how difficult it is to cancel a rehearsal. But we’ve got a wide array of weather happening across the area, and some of it is going to ice over, and some areas are going to continue to get snow through the evening. We had some schools close the whole days and others who have canceled all afternoon/evening activities. I’ve spoken with Jim, Rachel, and Claudia, and we all agree that it’s better to be safe than sorry.

So no rehearsal tonight. I’m glad we built in the two rehearsals on the two holidays. We’ll definitely be using the time next week. If I may, I’d like to ask you to plan to work until 10:00 pm next week, just so we can have a little bit of a buffer to recoup some of this time.

Be safe. You need next week.