I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday. I spent the day at home with Tim and then drove to Pennsylvania to visit my mother, Helen. I’m so grateful for all the blessings in my life, and one of those blessings is WSW and all that it means to me. Thank you for your willingness, flexibility, and dedication to this ensemble!

Sectionals on Monday at IPC

On Monday, we’re meeting in sectionals, as we did at the beginning of the fall cycle. Percussion will meet at TMH. Woodwinds and Brass will meet at Irvington Presbyterian Church, 25 North Broadway, Irvington, NY. Please bring music stands for the woodwind and brass sectionals!

We resume regular full rehearsals at TMH on Monday, December 9 and Monday, December 16.

Giving Tuesday is next week

Rebecca is reaching out through our social media channels on Tuesday, December 3 for Giving Tuesday. Please be on the lookout, and share those posts on your own pages and via email!

Slack Members workspace

If you haven’t joined our WSW Members workspace on Slack, give it a try. If you are a member of that workspace you can send direct messages to any member, see posts, and get emergency/traffic information for rehearsals faster than via email. And you’ll be very cool. Contact Curt for the link to join the WSW Members workspace.

On Monday, we’re back at the Music Hall. The rehearsal plan is posted.

Next Monday, December 2, we’ll be having sectionals in two locations:

• Percussion at TMH
• Woodwinds and Brass at Irvington Presbyterian Church (where the Fall sectionals were held)

If you go to see Glicked this weekend, enjoy (and bring a review on Monday!).

This week:

• Reflecting on the Fall Concert
• Moving ahead to the Winter cycle

Fall Concert

Congratulations on a moving and exciting performance last Sunday! Congratulations especially to Andrew! Gerard, Nicole, and Kelijah all send their gratitude and congratulations. As always, I’m eager to increase our post-performance dialogue so we (including myself) can gain valuable insights for our growth and improvement.

I recognize that players are not really eager to raise their hands and discuss this when I try to have a group discussion. So I’m trying something different this time. Please click this link and answer three quick questions about your reactions to the performance. (Your name is optional and email addresses will not be collected.) My hope is that I can then share these submissions out to the group on Monday instead of trying to foster a discussion.

Rehearsal on Monday at New Rochelle

TMH is not available on Monday. We’re heading back to New Rochelle instead of White Plains for a very practical reason: the rental costs are almost one third of what White Plains has been charging us. Remember to use these directions, not your GPS!

We’re reading the entire Winter program on Monday. Click here for the Drive folders to download your parts if you have not yet done so. Please note that there is a list of errata in the Chance folder; these corrections are very important, so please mark them into your parts before rehearsal.

The rehearsal plan is posted here, as always. If possible, look at Blue Shades, Russlan, and Bayou Breakdown; there are also some very exposed solos in Deep River.

Enjoy the weekend, see you Monday to read the next program!

First, thank you all for a beautifully executed, exciting, and energetic performance on Sunday! I’m so grateful! We’ll talk more about it on Monday.

Rehearsal on Monday is at New Rochelle High School. Remember to follow these directions; do not follow your GPS!

All parts are ready to download. Go to this Google Drive folder to download and print. There are a total of eleven works in this cycle, including both the Winter Concert on February 9 and the Side-by-Side Concert on Monday, January 27 at White Plains HS.

Have a great week — I’ll still send a reminder over the weekend.