I learned today that Ryan Silverman will not be able to attend our rehearsal Wednesday night. I have to admit this is disappointing in many ways, but I have no control over this. We are still expecting Matt Podd, however. The rehearsal plan has been revised, and we will rehearse in program order (not with the Podd arrangements first, as announced Monday night).

Regarding Some Enchanted Evening: Those grace notes, which troubled me so much last night, really need to be worked out. Eb Clarinet, 1st & 2nd Clarinets, Flutes, and Oboes are involved. I strongly urge the involved players to come early and have a sectional, especially since the stage is already set up. Spots include m.1, 25, 41, 63. For everyone, the grace notes must be light, quick, and as late as possible. These grace notes need to be ornamental, not melodic. 1st Clarinets should try the alternate fingering for high C# (from B, lift thumb & register key). 2nd Clarinets should play m.41 exactly like m.25 & 63 (grace notes are missing in m.41), and use the quickest and most articulate finger movements possible for this awkward maneuver. Eb Clarinet might try using the alternate fingering for G# (finger F# and just tap the G# key), but it’s important that this be tuned with the 1st Clarinets, who I also have encouraged to use an alternate fingering. All in all, the quicker and lighter the movement, the less intonation can be an issue!

We also have a few members who have been locked out of available tickets. As far as I can tell, the last tickets sold out this afternoon. If you have any spares, please bring them along tomorrow night for potential resale to another WSW member.

This is it! Don’t hold back! Arrive in time to warm up! Come prepared for an epic rehearsal and performance on Saturday! Seize this opportunity for greatness!

I’ve updated the rehearsal plan for tomorrow night. I expect that all of you have reviewed and practiced parts seriously since last week. We need to have a “take no prisoners” style rehearsal tomorrow night (working rehearsal) and Wednesday night (dress rehearsal, with Ryan Silverman attending). Please arrive in plenty of time to help set up, warm up, and be in your seat ready to start at 7:30 pm. We have too many players week after week who do not allow enough time for arrival and warm-up, which only hurts the overall ensemble.

As I noted last week, there are many of you who simply need to woodshed parts. I hope you’ve done this, and have left some time tonight for that final practice before tomorrow. All of us — myself included — are only as good as our last rehearsal/performance. We cannot rest on the 2014 Caramoor performance, or even the May or June 2015 performances. We must continue to work to maintain the performance level for which we have come to be known.

Work hard. Rest up. Come prepared. See you tomorrow night at TMH.

At one early point in the schedule-writing process, we had included a rehearsal for this evening. But that was cancelled long ago.

There is no rehearsal tonight, June 24. Our next rehearsals are next Monday, June 29 and Wednesday, July 1, at TMH.

I have no words to describe my gratitude for your performance, positive attitude, and resiliency this past weekend in Chicago and Evanston. The challenges definitely brought out the best in everyone. There is much to reflect on, and much to discuss as we shift to the hosting phase of this project for June 2016 . . . but right now we have a concert again exactly 2 weeks from tonight! So we will table all the shared joys and tribulations for the moment. Please read below concerning our rehearsal this Monday, and the three important news items which follow it.

We are back at the Music Hall for this Monday’s rehearsal, starting promptly at 7:30 pm. Monday’s rehearsal plan for the Caramoor concert is posted, and includes a short amount of time at the start for Chicago players to share brief reflections on the weekend’s successes. Please arrive early to greet each other, warm up, and set up, so we can begin on time and make this rehearsal productive. Our remaining Caramoor rehearsals are Monday, June 22; Monday, June 29; and Wednesday, July 1. (Note there is no rehearsal on Wednesday, June 24; I cancelled this date months ago.)

Lastly, please see below for three important news items. Click the links for more information. (I purposely withheld the second and third items while the Chicago trip was pending, so I didn’t saturate and overload you prior to that performance.)

• Janet Duncan’s Estate Sale – Janet’s daughter, Dorothy Duncan, has organized this sale in Briarcliff Manor today and tomorrow, and asked that I pass the information.
• Columbia Summer Winds – Bill Tonissen, from White Plains HS, is once again running this adult summer band program, and has invited WSW members to participate. Rehearsals have already begun, but concerts don’t begin until July 11. Rachel played in the group last summer; see her for more info about the experience.
• Youth Wind Ensemble of Westchester – Bradley Morrison is running this group again next school year. Auditions occurred earlier in June, but if you have a private student or student to recommend from your school program who you feel would benefit (especially double reeds, horns, low WW, and low brass), I’m sure Bradley would still like to hear from you.

Try to stay dry through all this additional rain. See you Monday night!