Rehearsal Monday

And just that quickly, 2017 is almost gone. We have two more rehearsals left, and we need to make the most of both. I appreciate your focused presence during these Husa rehearsals. I recognize it’s tough to concentrate. So thank you once again for taking this on. I’ve detailed the rehearsal plan for Monday, 7:30 pm at TMH.

Trumpet Master Class – January 15

We can now confirm that our February trumpet soloist, Don Batchelder, principal trumpet with the New York City Opera Orchestra, will present a trumpet master class on Monday, January 15 (MLK Day), from 3:00-5:30 pm on the stage at TMH. Trumpet players are encouraged to attend. We need a couple players to play some solo or excerpt rep, so please consider playing! He is also willing to do some sectional work with the entire section on our current repertoire. The class is open to everyone to listen and observe so please consider attending. I will have more details as we move into the New Year.

Related concert updates

• Marge Hone asked me to promote the Irvington Presbyterian Church performance of Handel’s Messiah this coming Sunday at 4:00 pm. Click on the graphic to enlarge for details.
• The Connecticut Symphonic Winds concert originally scheduled for today is CANCELED.
• The Chappaqua Orchestra performance of Brahms Requiem is ON today at 4 pm at Manhattanville College.
• The Masters School Winterlight concert is ON for Sunday at 4:00 pm.

Enjoy the weekend. Relieve some of your holiday stress with some practice.  😀

See you Monday!

I felt very good about last week’s rehearsal! I appreciate that players practiced and brought their best efforts to the tasks at hand. The time until the holiday break will come and go quickly, so it’s really important that we dig in and master the difficult sections in the rep before that break. This will allow us to use the time in January to mold the sound and create an atmosphere conducive for this milestone program.

Monday’s rehearsal starts again at the regular time of 7:30 pm. The plan is posted. The target sections of the Husa are sections of movements I, II, and IV, but take a look at the link for the specific sections we’ll focus on.

See you all Monday.

We’re back to our regular start time of 7:30 pm tomorrow evening. Percussion is meeting at Eastchester High School for a sectional, so no music stands or equipment will be needed for them at TMH.

The rehearsal plan is posted. Over the next several weeks, my plan is to rehearse two of the Husa movements per week, trying to stretch out the grunt work needed without losing track of the groundwork laid out in previous rehearsals, and without over-taxing your chops and emotions. Tom McCauley has agreed to come to our rehearsal on January 22 to clinic the piece, and I’m very excited about this milestone on our way to February 11.

And NASCAR? Chris Carbone found this crossword. See number 32 Across. See you all tomorrow evening.

This week:

• The plan for Monday’s rehearsal
• A wealth of Husa materials and an exceptional recording
• My thanks to Ben and the Area All-State directors/students
• TEDx Talk published!

Monday’s rehearsal

Following up on last Monday’s discussions, we’ll read through the entire Winter program on Monday evening — as they say, “through hell or high water.” Bring seatbelts, an open mind, and an open heart. The rehearsal plan is posted. 

Husa materials for perusal

As promised, click this link for the Husa/Prague PDF. It includes all the materials that I have collected to date about Music for Prague 1968. This is more than you could possibly want, but then again, many of you often surprise me! Please use the handout from last Monday to note measure numbers with rehearsal letters throughout the piece before Monday’s rehearsal. The PDF includes:

• The Instrumentalist interview with Karel Husa, September/October 1992
• Several newspaper articles about the composition
• Analysis by Husa
• Analysis by Bryon Adams,The Instrumentalist, October 1987
• Husa obituary (I handed this out last week)
• Table of measure numbers/rehearsal letters (handed this out last week)
• Revised/simplified percussion parts for the Interlude
• Analysis by Samuel D. McIlhagga (February, 2002)
• Interview with Mr. Husa (1988)
• Motifs/themes (handed this out last week)

Michael Lucke shared this exceptional recording of Music for Prague 1968, performed by the North Texas State Wind Symphony, with Gene Corporon conducting:

I. Introduction and Fanfare:

II. Aria:

III. Interlude:

IV. Toccata and Chorale:

Gratitude

I am grateful to Ben Acrish, Festival Coordinator, and all the WCSMA members in the band who prepared and sent students to this past week’s Area All-State Band at SUNY Purchase. The rehearsals were long and tiring, and I pushed the group to the extent of their potential, but the results were truly impressive. The group really peaked at the performance, and for that I am truly grateful! I also offer my thanks to the SUNY Purchase PAC staff who made the evening’s transitions so smooth, and to Ricky Myint, Band Chair, who managed the group during the rehearsals and performance.

TEDx Talk

My talk, Framing Failure, was published this week on YouTube. If you have 18 minutes to spare, I would be most grateful if you’d give this a viewing. If you are so inclined, please give it a thumbs up, share a comment, and (most importantly) please share the link with friends and family. It’s not an “idea worth spreading” until it is shared!

Thanks for watching. See you on Monday!