It’s January. It’s cold. There is so much frightening news across the nation and across the world. We need to use our remaining winter cycle rehearsals to recharge our own souls and prepare to inspire others!

Rehearsal this Monday

The rehearsal plan for Monday is posted here, as usual.

I’m sure you’ve noticed that the stage door parking lot is being used more and more. If you are looking for parking (especially if you’re running late), consider using the new garage down Main Street, behind the firehouse, off south Washington Street. Please tell friends and family to consider using this for performances as well.

I connected with the TMH staff to ask if a window might be broken somewhere, causing last week’s frigid stage. The temperatures will not be so extreme this Monday, and I’m hoping that if something was broken or missing, that they’ve fixed it by now.

Please note, as posted, we ARE rehearsing on Monday, January 20 (MLK Day) at TMH. There’s no way around this; we need to use the evening because the Side by Side is the following Monday.

Details for the Side by Side Concert at White Plains HS on Monday, January 27

• This performance takes the place of our regular weekly rehearsal; no extra time is asked of you. We will meet at White Plains HS. Please keep this in mind and do not go to TMH!
• Please bring a folding music stand, just in case we need a few extras for the combined band numbers.
• Please arrive between 6:30-7:00 pm that evening. If you arrive before 7:00 pm, you can warm up in D108, the room in the music hallway closest to the lobby. The concert BEGINS at 7:00 pm; please be seated in the auditorium by 7:00 pm to listen to Kathy and Bill’s ensembles. When it’s our turn, exit the rear doors of the auditorium, walk down the music hallway, and enter the stage. I’ll announce which side to use; we’ll create a one-way flow of traffic with the exiting student players.
• Attire – Please arrive dressed. There will not be dressing areas to accommodate everyone changing clothes. Plan on regular all-black WSW performance attire, including black suits/white shirts/bow ties for men and black shoes for all.
• Program order: WP Concert Band, WP Symphonic Band, WSW, Combined Bands
• WSW rep: Glinka, Horne, Ticheli, Karrick
• Combined rep with WPHS bands: Hall, Aldridge
• Combined bands will be seated on stage (brass) and on the pit floor (woodwinds). WSW percussion will take a break for the combined numbers and allow the WPHS players to perform (you can start to pack up then!). I will conduct the brass/percussion on stage, relaying the beat to Bill, who will be conducting the woodwinds behind me.
• Warm ups/sound checks – In order to keep the timing of the evening as conservative as possible, we do not have a group warm up or sound check. Warm up on your own on arrival. When we take the stage, you’ll have a few minutes to play on your own, then we tune and GO. In addition, there is no possible way to rehearse the combined numbers. We’ll have seating charts to help you find your seats (integrated with the students), but we’ll be winging it in the performance. The WPHS students have done this before with their All-City performances, so they will know what to expect.
• Percussion – Bring small instruments. We’ll have access to all the large instruments (like our WPHS site rehearsals) and the piano.
• The evening will likely end approximately 9:15-9:30 pm, earlier than a regular rehearsal.

I’ll link this info from the home page so you can refer to it over the next two weeks as needed.

It’s January!

Emerging from the holidays is always tough. There’s usually not much to look forward to but tax season and lent. But January for WSW will be brisk and exciting — we have three rehearsals and BOOM! our Side-by-Side performance with the White Plains HS bands comes up in place of rehearsal on Monday, January 27. Pending the meeting with WPHS band directors Kathy Davis and Bill Tonissen, the program for that performance includes the heavy hitters from this cycle: Glinka, Horne, Ticheli, and Karrick, plus Aldridge and Hall (combined with WPHS bands).

We return to rehearsals this Monday, January 6 at 7:30 pm at TMH. There will be a sax sectional at 6:45 pm prior to rehearsal, site pending Karina’s announcement that the painting project in the Studio is completed and dry; otherwise the sectional will be held at 6:45 pm in the largest dressing room, above the stage door.

Tickets for February 9

The ticket page for our February 9 concert is posted and ready:
https://tickets.tarrytownmusichall.org/eventperformances.asp?evt=2984
The coupon code for the reduced Friends & Family tickets is posted in #genearal_band_chat channel on Slack. I will announce it as well on Monday night.

Commission update

I had a chance for a short visit with Viet Cuong at the Midwest in Chicago in December. Although he wasn’t ready to share many details, Viet is excited about our commission project and he promised that completion is on schedule for February 15. Our first rehearsal of this new work will be on Monday, February 24 (at the first rehearsal after the Winter Concert).

Board meetings

Our next board meetings are scheduled for Tuesday, January 14 and Tuesday, February 11, both at 7:30 pm on Zoom.

Rehearsal Monday at TMH, 7:30-9:45 pm

Our final rehearsal before the holiday break is this Monday at TMH, at the regular time. The rehearsal plan is posted.

Slack – one more invitation

We are hoping to use Slack to distribute the Band Camp codes for downloading current and past WSW performance recordings, so please consider joining! We really had an uptick in the number of members joining the WSW Members Slack Workspace this past week. If you haven’t joined yet, do consider it. Just click here.

Holiday wishes

I want to take this opportunity to wish everyone the very best for this holiday season, and all good health and happiness in 2025. I am so grateful for you, the players of WSW, and look forward to our continuing collaborations together!

Rehearsal Monday at TMH

With two rehearsals remaining before the holiday break, we are back in the Music Hall on Monday for a full rehearsal, 7:30-9:45 pm. We’ll make good use of the progress made in sectionals last week to pull much of those works together one last time in 2024. As always, the rehearsal schedule is posted here.

While you’re on the home page, please take a look at all the other links and info available through this site. Many questions that you might want to ask can be answered by looking through the home page or through the menus at the top of the page.

Slack

We really had an uptick in the number of members joining the WSW Members Slack Workspace this past week. If you haven’t joined yet, do consider it. Just click here. We are hoping to use Slack to distribute the Band Camp codes for downloading current and past WSW performance recordings, so please consider joining!

Performance opportunity

Priscilla Goldfarb (management@musicatstmarys.org), chair of the Music at St. Mary’s in Cold Spring (no religious affiliation with the church), is looking for small chamber ensembles to perform in their performing arts series in 2025. This might be a nice opportunity for one or more of our section ensembles to perform in an appreciative, low impact atmosphere — possibly the flute quartet, sax quartet, Bear Mountain Brass, or other section/group. Contact Priscilla directly at the email listed above.

Jazz in Vermont

I had a great time working with vocalist Carmen Bradford last night with the VT Jazz Center Big Band. You should be able to view the video for the rest of this week here.
The music starts around 11:00. The 2nd set begins around 1:22:00.
Donations to support the VJC Scholarship Fund would be appreciated.
I hope you enjoy the music.
Rob

Caramoor 2025

Our rep for July 4 at Caramoor is now set. I’m happy to announce that Mimi Hilaire, who is singing with us on February 9, will be reprising those three vocal numbers at Caramoor this summer. I know the audience will love her!

The program includes three Sousa marches and The Cowboys, by John Williams. I’ve been waiting several years to program this, and I think this is the right year to do it. Check out the entire program here.