Monday: We’re back in the Music Hall for our penultimate working rehearsal. The rehearsal plan is posted. It includes run-throughs of Parts 1 & 3 of PAAE. Please remember that we are rehearsing next week on Wednesday, instead of Monday (because of Halloween), and that this rehearsal will be in the New Rochelle HS Band Room. Then, later that week, the dress rehearsal is Saturday at 10 am and the concert is Sunday!

Ads: Monday is the last day we can accept last minute ads for the program. Please give your ad form, payment, and copy to Tom Sweezey, who is organizing it all for me.

Parking: For many years, we’ve tried to warn players not to park in the lot behind the CVS in Tarrytown, but it bears repeating. Unfortunately, several players who parked there were ticketed two weeks ago. A slap in the face, I know. Please be careful. There’s still no news about the lot which was closed at Broadway and Neperan. Hopefully that will be resolved by the concert, but who knows.

And thank you to the WSW members who played for the convocation at The Masters School today. You were a tremendous asset!

Brrrrrrr. What happened to Indian Summer? Enjoy the weekend anyway. See you Monday!

Please remember that we are meeting and rehearsing this Monday at Port Chester High School, at 1 Tamarack Road, Port Chester, NY. Click here to enter your starting address in Google Map directions. Rehearsal will focus on Ewazen, Holst, and selected movements of the Mussorgsky.

This is your last chance to order a 2015-2016 CD, thumbdrive, or SD card! Click here to place your order, then give your payment to Marge Hone.

Concert flyers are ready to download, print, and share. Find them on the Resources page.

And remember that ads are due on Monday! Give your ad forms, payments, and ad copy to Tom Sweezey.

Judy Mitchell from Kensico Cemetery (from our 2014 Benefit Concert), asked me to pass on the information about their upcoming 5K on October 30, benefitting the Alzheimer’s Foundation. You can run, walk, or just donate if your running shoes don’t fit. It certainly is an interesting and beautiful setting for a 5K! I’ve attached the flyer.

It’s mid-afternoon on Saturday. I’m still planning the selection and rehearsal order of the Mussorgsky movements, but I will post them later, before heading to the Oboe Chamber Music Concert, organized by WSW’s own Ruthie Garcia, and featuring several of our WSW players, at St. Joseph’s Church, 95 Plum Brook Road, Somers at 7:00 pm. I hope I’ll see some of you there!

But I will see you Monday — in Port Chester!

I just came across the Tappan Zee from Rockland to Westchester at 3:30 pm. There was an accident with injuries and ambulances on I-287 just before the bridge, and at the time, only one lane was open westbound. The backup extended well past exit 8 in White Plains.

I’m sure the accident will be cleared before rehearsal, but there’s bound to be residual delays. Please plan accordingly and drive safely!

Bainbridge Cornet Band Photo taken about 1900-1906

I’m heading home today to Pennsylvania to attend a concert of the Bainbridge Band, a community band founded in the 1880’s in my father’s hometown of Bainbridge, a beautiful town on the Susquehanna River south of Harrisburg. The band is interesting not only because of its long history, but also because the ensemble rehearses in its own Band Hall, purchased back in 1920, and its library contains over 7000 titles. Two of my longtime friends from high school play in the band, and one is stepping in to conduct this evening’s concert. I’m really looking forward to reconnecting with this band, in a community close to my own roots.

The Kimmel Center, home of the Philadelphia Orchestra

Tomorrow evening, as I make my way back to White Plains on Amtrak, I’m stopping in Philadelphia to attend the Curtis Institute Symphony concert in the amazing Kimmel Center (my first visit). And why would I single out this particular concert? Because WSW, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, the Northwestern University Symphonic Wind Ensemble, and the Curtis Institute Symphony all share one important work among their fall repertoire – Pictures at an Exhibition, of course! We are in such great company, and I am truly excited to share and experience another interpretation of this milestone work.

Our rehearsal on Monday evening will focus, for the first time, on the Mussorgsky only. I have spent time over the past three rehearsals breaking up the piece 4-6 movements at a time. As we move ahead, it’s critical to extend our focus over a longer period. The Fall concert will mark our first performance of a continuous 30-minute work, and we can’t wait until the dress rehearsal to address the mental concentration required. I’m still planning Monday’s rehearsal, but my hope is to break up the work into three sections. I’ll rehearse individual movements in detail, then include a run-through of each third of the work as closure. This will be an important step to performing the entire work without interruption less than a month from now.

We’ve had great rehearsals so far in this cycle — let’s keep it up! Enjoy the holiday weekend, and see you Monday!