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!

In this post:

• Monday’s rehearsal at Port Chester
• Details about Carmina Burana and discount tickets for the Ars Musica performance on November 23 (one of the choirs who are performing with us in May)

Please click the link in this email to visit my blog site and read the entire post!

Our rehearsal this week is another which cannot be accommodated at TMH, and so our rehearsal Monday will once again be held at Port Chester Middle School at our regular time, 7:30-9:45 pm. The link is also included on the Rehearsal This Week page along with the rehearsal order. Please follow the link for directions. We’ll aim to open the same door so you are able to enter straight from the parking lot.

I was so excited to hear the audible GASP in the audience last Sunday when I spoke about Carmina Burana in May. Leslie Mac Pherson, the choir director at Northern Valley-Demarest, announced the project last month at her fall Music Parents meeting, and got a great reaction. She is programming the work with her choir on her April concert, accompanied by our own Barbara Ciannella and Broadway music director, Amy Duran, and then joining us in May. Ars Musica, the adult community choir from Bergen County which is also joining us in May, is performing Carmina Burana on Saturday, November 23 at 8:00 pm at Westside Presbyterian Church in Ridgewood, NJ. Dusty Miller, music director, sent the following to me to offer discount tickets to our members for this performance. Follow the directions and use the discount code to purchase $25 tickets for only $16 + $1.55 service fee. I am planning on attending — I hope some of you might also consider attending, especially since these singers are giving their time to perform with us in May!

Dear friends at Westchester Symphonic Winds,

Upon my appointment as Music Director of Ars Musica, I began to investigate the arts scene in the area and was amazed to find such a rich musical community here in our corner of the tristate. One of my biggest hopes for Ars Musica is to form closer bonds and partnerships with the many wonderful ensembles and organizations in the neighborhood. In the hopes of initiating such a relationship, we are excited to offer a 20% discount to your members for our upcoming performance of Carmina Burana on Saturday, November 23, at West Side Presbyterian Church.

To purchase these discounted tickets, Westchester Symphonic Winds members can simply visit our event page at http://carminaburana.brownpapertickets.com, enter the Discount Code 4W35tch3sT3r5ympH0nicWinD5, and click “Show Available Tickets.” Once entered, they will have the option of purchasing specially discounted tickets ($16.00 for pre-sale, $20.00 for the day of the concert). We hope that such a discount will help promote greater interaction and friendship between our organizations.

Please don’t hesitate to contact us if you have any problems with the ticketing process or any questions at all. Thank you so much, and we hope to see you on November 23rd!

Dusty Francis / Music Director & Conductor
(551) 226-9305/ info@arsmusica.org

Ars Musica
PO Box 525 Paramus, NJ 07653-0525
http://www.arsmusica.org