This post includes:

• Reminder of directions to New Rochelle High School for Monday’s sectional and rehearsal
• Reminder of Monday’s percussion sectional at 5:00 pm before rehearsal at 7:30 pm
• Tom McCauley will be attending Monday to clinic the Husa
• Master class audio recording – courtesy of Mislav Forrester
• Concert/dress rehearsal dates for the next two seasons
• Poster and press release posted to the Resource page of this site. Please share this information as we move closer to the concert on February 11!
• We received an invitation to the Hudson Chorale performances of Haydn’s Creation on January 27 & 28. Follow the link for more information.

We are rehearsing at New Rochelle High School again this week

Rehearsals this week (January 22) and next week (January 29) will be held at New Rochelle High School because TMH is booked. Please use these directions to get to the Band Room. Please do not follow GPS to the school’s address posted on their website. You will end up far, far away from the performing arts wing! If you must use GPS, use “Intersection of Braemar Road and North Avenue” to get to the correct part of the large campus.

Tom McCauley has cleared his evening to spend the entire rehearsal with us. After a warm up with Travis Cross’s Tribute, we’ll spend the rest of the evening working through all four movements of the Husa with Tom. I know his insights will be incredibly helpful. (The rehearsal plan is posted here.)

Lastly, I’m sure you’ve heard the news about the tragic events at New Rochelle this past week and earlier this month. Rest assured that the administration has reconfirmed our use of the facility, and would not do so unless they felt confident that using the building will be completely safe for us.

Percussion sectional at 5:00 pm Monday

Percussion is meeting early on Monday. Please plan to arrive at 5:00 pm to set up. We’ll get started as soon as everyone as arrived (I remember that one or two of you have rehearsals beforehand). Please bring a brown bag dinner and we’ll eat together in the band room between the sectional and full rehearsal. Please be sure to bring food and do not plan on leaving campus to purchase dinner; although we’ll take a significant break, there won’t be time to leave, purchase food, return, and eat before we get started again. Thanks in advance.

We will concentrate on the third movement of the Husa, but will also hit some hot spots in the other movements as well. Please note and be prepared. Although I don’t intend to rehearse Boss and Gates, if you have questions or concerns about these pieces, please bring your list and let’s make time to discuss them.

In case you missed the Master Class

Mislav recorded Don’s class last week. All wind players would benefit from hearing what he had to say about breathing and breath support. I encourage everyone to take the time to listen.

Husa retrospective

If you didn’t have time yet, please check out the Husa retrospective panel discussion I posted earlier on January 16 (audio link is at the bottom of the post). I encourage everyone to take the time to listen. It is fascinating and timely!

31st and 32nd seasons

Because it can be tricky reserving the best dates for concerts at TMH, the Board pressed ahead to reserve the dress rehearsal and concert dates for the next two seasons. We were not able to secure the same timeframe for the Winter concert as this year (Sunday after Super Bowl) because of conflicts with the Children’s Theater. And so that concert will be a little later (early March) in the next two seasons. Please note these dates, so you might be able to negotiate conflicts before they collide with our schedule.

2018-2019: 31st  season

• Fall concert – Sunday, November 11, 2018 at 3:00 pm; dress rehearsal on Saturday, November 10, 2018 at 10:00 am – 1:00 pm
• Winter concert –  Sunday, March 3, 2019; at 3:00 pm; dress rehearsal on Saturday, March 2, 2019 at 10:00 am – 1:00 pm
• Spring concert – Saturday, May 11, 2019 at 8:00 pm; dress rehearsal on Wednesday, May 8, 2019 at 7:30-10:00 pm

2019-2020: 32nd season

• Fall concert – Sunday, November 10, 2019 at 3:00 pm; dress rehearsal on Saturday, November 9, 2019 at 10:00 am – 1:00 pm
• Winter concert –  Sunday, March 1, 2020 at 3:00 pm; dress rehearsal on Saturday, February 29, 2020 at 10:00 am – 1:00 pm
• Spring concert – Saturday, May 16, 2020 at 8:00 pm; dress rehearsal on Wednesday, May 13, 2020 at 7:30-10:00 pm

See you Monday!

Last evening was a milestone for our ensemble in many ways:

• The Master Class with Don Batchelder was well-attended, much appreciated, and incredibly profitable in many ways.
• The clarinet section responded quickly and positively to Geoff’s weekend email, and came together to rehearse for a full hour before rehearsal.
• It was a special honor to have Peter Sis visit rehearsal last evening. He was most impressed with the sound of the ensemble, and was clearly moved. He will be returning for our dress rehearsal on February 10 and the concert on February 11.
• The progress we’re making with the Husa is truly amazing. I know I have said this before, but it is so sincere: I am so very proud of your work on this piece, and I am really looking forward to the final product at the performance.

The progress we’ve made with the Husa is considerable. Next week (at New Rochelle) we’ll have Tom McCauley to give his honest and thorough assessment of our progress, and what we still must do to bring this piece to its highest potential.

Percussion – Don’t forget we’re meeting at 5 pm next Monday for the percussion sectional. Please bring a sack meal, and we’ll break to eat between the sectional and full rehearsal.

And here, as promised, is the Big 10 Directors panel discussion about Karel Husa from the conference. (I edited this now so the discussion begins right at the beginning of the track.) Total time is about 55 minutes. If you have the time, it’s truly fascinating.

We have a lot going on today/tonight, all at TMH:

• 3:00 pm – Master Class with Don Batchelder
• 6:00 pm – Clarinet sectional
• 7:30 pm – Rehearsal, including Don’s solo pieces,  Husa movements 1 & 4, and we expect Peter Sis to stop by.

But no snow in the forecast! See you tonight.

Thank you for a great rehearsal last night! I am so very proud of your work on this difficult and diverse program. Every week we come closer and closer to what is surely going to be a knock-out concert!

I am so very, very excited to have Peter Sis joining us next Monday. Thanks again to Ben Acrish for putting me on the trail to find him. Take a look at his NYT bestseller, The Wall. We are indeed fortunate to have found someone who witnessed the Soviet invasion of Prague 50 years ago. I really think his visit will put an entirely new spin our our experience with Husa’s masterpiece.

A few of you reported that my posting of the rehearsal schedule over the next few weeks was confusing. I’ve made edits and corrections to make it all clearer. Next week’s Master Class and rehearsal are all at TMH. The following two weeks’ rehearsals (January 22 & 29) will be held at New Rochelle High School. On January 22, the percussion section will gather for a sectional at 5 pm, and Tom McCauley will be on hand that evening to listen to Prague and clinic our work thus far. I know his insights will be tremendously helpful.

I flew down here to Tampa this morning and am giving a clinic on Thursday at the Florida Music Educators Association Conference. It’s in the mid 70’s here and I miss the sub-freezing temperatures of New York. (NOT) When I return, I will drive back up to Amherst, Mass for the second rehearsal and concert of the Western Mass District Band. And then, suddenly, it will be Monday again! I doubt I will have the time to send another rehearsal reminder for January 15, so this will probably be it. I’m looking forward to seeing all the brass players who indicated attendance at the Master Class. It’s open to anyone who’d like to observe, so don’t hesitate to come. And member band directors’ students are welcome as observers as well.

Have a great week — I’ll see you Monday at TMH!