Article in development

This past week I received an email from Phil Lutz, writer with The New York Times, who wrote to express interest in writing an article about WSW for the Metropolitan Section of the paper, ahead of our Fall Concert. We had a 75 minute conversation on Thursday, and he followed it up with another conversation with Rachel on Saturday. He intends to attend rehearsal this coming Monday evening, with a photographer. I am not sure if/how this may affect rehearsal, but I wanted you to know he will be visiting. I don’t have to point out how pivotal this could be for us. Please make every effort to arrive early to help set up and warm up, so we can start exactly on time and put our best foot forward. Be proactive so that no one is late!!!

Check the rehearsal plan for the week; the soprano duets will be rehearsed at the end of rehearsal again (Rossini – Delibes – Mozart this time), in final preparation for the soloists arriving next Monday. We’ll go with the “Farewell Symphony” plan again of gradually disappearing players and equipment in the final 30 minutes of rehearsal.

Please reflect on this

I noticed this post on Travis Cross’s Facebook page this past week. I think it speaks directly to what I have been trying to convey this fall in regard to listening more collaboratively and conversing, not just playing, in rehearsals. I hope you agree that this is extremely worthwhile.

I just had an online conversation about watching the conductor and thought I’d share something from yesterday’s rehearsal—because I believe in the idea so strongly. I was conducting a ritardando, and the players didn’t slow down enough. I stopped and said, “Don’t get there before I do.” Then, instead of instructing them to watch and follow me, I challenged them to take more time and “be more musical than I am” at the end of that phrase.

I’m convinced that playing musically, listening, and breathing together are far more important than watching the conductor, and I want my rehearsals to sensitize students to what their colleagues are doing and not just what I’m doing.

Travis Cross, via Facebook

Enjoy this beautiful day — see you tomorrow evening.

Last Monday’s rehearsal was very productive. I went into it hoping to establish meaning in each piece rehearsed, and I think that goal was met several times over.

This week we’ll continue to work on that goal with the other pieces in the cycle. Tim Takagi will be conducting again. We will read down the Armed Forces Salute, and this will likely be our only rehearsal of that piece until the dress rehearsal. Mary Ebeling dubbed the Holst/Williams mashup as “Mars Wars” in a Facebook post, and I like that name! That’s on the plan as well. Just follow the link at the top of this paragraph to see the full rehearsal plan.

The deadline to submit ads must be next Monday, October 19. Please consider bringing in an ad from work, or bonding with your section-mates and taking an ad, or approaching a colleague or neighbor to ask for their support. Again, if everyone brought in one ad, well you know the rest. Once again, here’s the link to the ad form.

What a beautiful weekend! I hope you all enjoyed it. See you tomorrow night.

I met and worked with the two sopranos on Friday. Wowee — they sound great! I can’t wait for you to hear them! They will be coming to Monday rehearsals on October 26 & November 2, plus the dress rehearsal. I’ll visit those three pieces one more time before then.

Please keep in mind that we do have rehearsal next Monday night, October 12 (Columbus Day evening). I chose to do this because of the late Labor Day start to the season.

The rehearsal plan is ready. I hope you’ve been practicing! See you tomorrow night!

Several of you have been very kind to reach out to support me during this very difficult week since Tim Tull’s death. Although we accept the end of life as a fact of life, it’s never easy when it’s thrust in our faces like this. I especially appreciate the kind words from those of you who are all too familiar with sudden incidents such as this.

This week I’ve planned to do some in-depth work again on 3 of the 5 major works, and we’ll once again rehearse Tim Takagi’s piece. Mary Schneider was kind enough to send me a manuscript full score for the Latham, which will help a lot with that piece.

This week we will delay the stretch/announcements break until 9:10 pm. After announcements, I’ll dismiss everyone who does not play the three soprano duets. We’ll quickly clear percussion and all chairs/stands for everyone not involved in those three numbers. I will then rehearse those works until 9:45 pm, when those players will clear their own remaining chairs/stands. By doing this I’m trying to be respectful of everyone’s time and integrity of the setup/teardown of the rehearsal. (I’m choosing to try it this way rather than starting with the reduced personnel and adding chairs, stands, and percussion, which I feel will take much longer.)

Enjoy the rest of the weekend. I’m looking forward to seeing you on Monday.