Only 11 more days til Spring (concert cycle)!

I have links (below) of formidable performances of our May repertoire to share, and an invitation to share from Jessica Slotwinsk (percussion section).

First, from Jessica Slotwinski (WSW percussion): her husband has written a play which will be produced in Midtown from February 27 – March 9. Here’s the information and an invitation from Jessica to attend My Father’s Ashes: The Sisters Play.

My husband, a writer and theater teacher, wrote the play, and I am working on the set. Our theatre company is growing, and our mission is that we believe that the greatest art comes from that which connects us all. To that end, we are a community first, producing original work that brings joy and offers insight into the world, ourselves, and the human condition. We believe all artists should actively work for the betterment of that community, and as such, our members are encouraged to perform acts of service, as well as acts of creativity, for the good of the community at large.
Breathing life into the author’s work is our highest priority, which frees us to focus on forging those human bonds with each other and our audience that are the soul of all great performances, and from which we all learn and grow.
A bit about the show:

MY FATHER’S ASHES: THE SISTERS PLAY is a new dramatic play by Tom Slot that explores the issues of love, grief, and family. On the one-year anniversary of their father’s death, three sisters return to their childhood home to scatter his ashes. But a brutal winter snow, their judgmental mother, and years of unresolved baggage threaten to derail the memorial before it even begins. As secrets and insecurities are exposed at every turn, can these three sisters overcome their sibling dynamic long enough to mourn their father? Or will the night leave their relationships so fractured that they can never go home again.

Ticket info and additional details can be found at:

Second, if you haven’t checked out the spring rep yet, try these YouTube videos. It will help set the stage and prepare you for our first rehearsal on March 3.

Enjoy these recordings. See you soon on March 3!

For the single reed players

If you’re like me, you’ve spent half your life’s disposable income on reeds, reed knives, thumb rests, hydrators, mouthpieces, mouthpiece pads, reed trimmers, reed duplicators, reed rush, blank reeds, swabs, double cases, triple cases . . . and ligatures. Well, maybe we could have saved a lot of money by skipping the ligature completely and just used a shoelace.

Lord of the Rings Symphony

Rich Simons, who has played string bass with us on a couple occasions, is mounting an orchestral performance of the deMeij Lord of the Rings Symphony. We performed the first movement, Gandalf, during my first season. If you have the time and inclination, it sounds like a worthy opportunity. Here is Rich’s information:

The Cortlandt Chamber Orchestra is performing Johan de Meij’s Symphony No.1 (“Lord of the Rings”), and I’m looking for more players.  I hope there might be some people who would be keen to play the orchestral version of this symphony, since it is so often done in the original concert band version.  We already have a bunch of people playing, but as you might expect, we do have parts to cover, mostly brass and percussion. Players may contact me directly, and can get all of the concert info from our website: ww.cortlandtmusic.org/cco.html

You’ll find Rich’s email on the website referenced above. Contact him for rehearsal dates and more information.

Caramoor Tix on Sale Today!

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Ticket sales for Caramoor start today. If you are interested, go to https://tickets.caramoor.org/public/. I’ve tried to communicate with our contact since December, but have gotten no response, so I have not been able to ask about any kind of priority in regard to ticketing, on the lawn or in the Venetian Theater. I will still pursue this with him, but if you have family who want center row down front, you should act soon.