I’m sending my sincerest wishes to all of you for the Thanksgiving holiday. I hope the day brings new family memories, but also a sense of gratitude for all that life affords us.

One of the things I am most grateful for is you and this band. WSW has become such an important part of my life and I am thankful for your participation.

Remember that we rehearse at Port Chester on Monday night. Please sort your music in your folder, with all the old Fall music on one side so Nancy can collect it quickly. We will read through everything on the Winter program. If you can practice some of the technical sections of Hackett and Elgar, it would be time well spent to make the rehearsal as successful as possible.

See you Monday. In the meantime — eat, nap, repeat.

Thank you, everyone, for an extraordinary experience last night. The care which you showed all the students is a sign of your exceptional professionalism. I am hoping that we are able to schedule another  Side by Side concert at some point in the future. If you are a music educator and would be interested in such a program in your district, please contact me and let’s discuss how we could make it happen.

After the concert last night, I announced that I am CANCELING REHEARSAL this coming Monday, November 25. We had an excellent turnout for SxS and you deserve to have time given back to you. In place of our regular rehearsal, the Gounod and Dvorak chamber ensemble personnel (with whom I have spoken individually) will meet at the Irvington Presbyterian Church, main building in the Parlor. I will email PDF parts to you tomorrow. I will rehearse 7:30-8:30 Gounod, 8:30-9:45 Dvorak. Please bring a music stand and the parts I send tomorrow.

Our next full WSW rehearsal will be on December 2, back at Port Chester Middle School. I was mistaken when I said we had only one rehearsal there before the calendar year ends; because of concerts at TMH we are actually rehearsing at Port Chester on both December 2 & 16. We will read through all of the Winter cycle program. Please click here to see the Arutiunian errata, and transfer these corrections to your parts before December 2.

Also on December 2, I will be discussing the parameters of the current proposal from the Northshore Concert Band (based in Wilmette, Illinois, just north of Chicago) for a concert exchange program in 2015 and 2016. We need to take a  poll of our member to determine if we are going to pursue further discussions with Northshore for this project. Note that you will not be committing to participate at this point, only voting whether or not to continue discussions between our two Boards on the project.

Thank you again for a magnificent experience last night!

Please double check the directions sent in the last post. I appreciate all efforts to be on stage at Mahopac for a 4:00 pm start. I know some are coming a little later, but everyone else please make every effort to be on time.

If you can, please bring a folding music stand — just in case we need spares. He has 85 music stands on site, and it will easiest to share with the kids, but knowing we have spares will be optimal.

Lastly, I have created a document with the stage changes between groups. I will bring hard copies, but you can preview it here. WSW Flutes, Clarinets, Oboes, and Trombones will be moving a little bit between Mahopac groups to accommodate their particular setups. The document makes it clear.

See you tomorrow at Mahopac HS for our 4:00 pm sound check and clinic rehearsals!

Side by Side Concert at Mahopac HS
421 Baldwin Place Rd Mahopac, NY 10541-4631
School website directions page: http://mhs.mahopac.k12.ny.us/directions
Thursday, November 21 – 4:00 pm call/sound check, 7:30 pm concert

Basic directions:
Taconic Parkway north to Route 6.
Route 6 east toward Mahopac/Shrub Oak.
Go 2.0 miles and turn left onto Baldwin Place Road (past Clayton Blvd, Shell is on the corner; if you get to Route 118, you’ve gone too far).
Take Baldwin Place Road to the school. You will approach the High School first, the Middle school is beyond the football field.
Parking – There is limited parking in front of the school. If you find a spot, use the main entrance. Otherwise, drive around the building to the back to the large parking lot, and use the entrance next to the cafeteria.

We will have a couple classrooms reserved for our use near the auditorium for cases, coats, and dinner. See you Thursday!