With all the hoopla concerning the concert, I completely forgot to invite you to participate as a wind ensemble performers in this year’s conducting symposium. Mallory Thompson is back, and Matt Kowalski is one of the conductors this year.

The symposium is next weekend, Saturday, May 31 and Sunday, June 1. The wind ensemble lab sessions each day are 1:00-4:30 pm. It is still being held at Northern Valley-Old Tappan High School, as it has been for several years.

Click here to read all about the symposium, now in its twenty-something year, and use the Registration Form below to sign up. I really need flutes and percussion! I wouldn’t mind a few more brass players (all instruments). But we are overflowing with clarinets already at this point.

I’ve been trying to decide what I could possibly say to you in this post-concert message. There is so much to say, so much we are all feeling, so much potential before us. No matter what I say, it will fall short of expressing fully how impressed I am with your dedication, focus, and musicianship.

So rather than try to write about the concert, I’ll just let you see and hear for yourselves. With the help of Rachel’s son, Daniel, I managed to record some pretty good videos of every piece on the concert. These are not intended to replace the concert CD — so please do still plan to buy your copy of the high-quality audio CD once it’s produced!

Remember that our next rehearsal is Monday, June 2 at 7:30 pm at Port Chester Middle School. I’ll be writing again prior to that rehearsal to remind you of the details.

But first, here, in two YouTube playlists, are our “Hymns, Sacred and Profane!” (Please share, email, Facebook, Tweet at will!)

Thanks for such a great dress rehearsal last night. I appreciate and am grateful for your patience through the process of bringing in the chorus members and tweaking the movements to get the balance and coordination to a workable point.

I know there are still points to address in all the pieces. There’s one specific place in Carmina I’ll rehearse in the warm-up on Saturday evening. But otherwise, I vote to buckle up and let it ride.

I am also writing to pass on this unique opportunity. Jeff Ball, the conductor of the Brooklyn Wind Symphony, which performed at the Midwest in 2013, is conducting a performance of Hector Berlioz’s Symphonie Funèbre et Triomphale – declared “one of the great ceremonial pieces of all time” by critic Virgil Thomson – in Bryant Park in Manhattan on June 21. This is going to be one huge massed band, and it looks like a great experience. Apparently West Point players and other professionals are involved. You can read more about it and register at:
http://makemusicny.org/blog/come-play-in-berliozs-symphony-for-band-in-bryant-park/

I’m on the verge of signing up myself to play. If you do register, please do note Westchester Symphonic Winds as your home ensemble — we’ll get program credit.

Otherwise, I’ll see you Saturday at 6:00 pm for what promises to be an epic event.

This week’s rehearsals on Monday and Wednesday are pivotal as we prepare for our concert on Saturday evening. Please continue to care for your health so you are in fine form for the week.

Monday’s rehearsal begins as usual at 7:30 pm, but please remember that Wednesday’s dress rehearsal begins at 6:30 pm. This was necessary because of the AP exams this week and the need to get the NV-Demarest students home as early as possible. Please plan on arriving at 6:15 pm, we cannot get into the hall before 6:30 pm, but will need to set up quickly. I’m not concerned about the time to set up, as it will take some time to organize and the 120 voices settled. (We are rehearsing Carmina first.)

I never shared this YouTube video of a performance of the Fantasia in G on the original instrument. It’s interesting to note that the first and third sections of this piece are almost completely melodic with no supporting chord structure, that the Fantasia as we know it is nested in the middle, and that the piece as we know it ends on a diminished seventh chord. Goldman constructed the ending with plenty of suspensions to match the rest of the piece (like all those theory assignments all of us music ed majors did in undergrad theory). It’s also amazing how the orchestration makes it much more expressive. Clearly, Bach didn’t allow for an extra hand to change the stops during the Fantasia!

You can also examine the full score in the Petrucci library.

Happy Mother’s Day to all, and I’ll see you Monday.