John Lynch, along with his grad students, Fiona & Alexander, join me at the Opera Bar (next to the Sydney Opera House) after a day of classes at “The Con.”

Sydney has been amazing, simply amazing! During the past week I conducted rehearsals with the St. Aloysius College Symphonic Wind Ensemble (Four Dances from West Side Story), Newington College Wind Symphony (Zdechlik’s Chorale and Shaker Dance), and the Sydney Youth Orchestra Wind Symphony (Holst’s First Suite), plus I spoke at John Lynch’s Basic Conducting class at the Sydney Music Conservatorium. All that happened in just three days! I am very grateful to John for lining up these rehearsal clinics for me. It’s been a whirlwind of events here, but I have really gotten to know and enjoy Sydney very much.

I heard good things about last week’s sectionals and I am grateful to both Matt & Rich for working with you. This Monday, we’re back at TMH, and Tom McCauley will be taking the podium for the full rehearsal. The plan is Bernstein, Lauridsen, and Maslanka. Please come in plenty of time to help set up, warm up, and be ready in your seats for his downbeat promptly at 7:30 pm. Starting on time in my absence when guest conductors come in is especially important to me. Thank you in advance for planning ahead.

We have no rehearsal on Monday, March 30 (Westchester public schools vacation week for Passover/Easter), so we won’t meet again until Monday, April 6, back at TMH. And I’ll be back for that rehearsal!

I miss you all and am eager to share more about the trip when I see you. Have a great rehearsal with Tom!

So I arrived safely in Sydney after 24 hours of travel. This trip is definitely not for the claustrophobic or travel-timid, but I am very excited to be here. Never in my life did I expect to see a photo like this! John Lynch has me lined up to conduct clinics at Newington College and St. Aloysius College, plus another clinic with the Sydney Youth Orchestra Wind Symphony. In one of the clinics, I’m conducting Bernstein and Grainger — the best of both the United States and Australia (how did that happen?). I’ll also be co-teaching his Basic Conducting class on Friday. So there’s a lot to look forward to!

Don’t forget that we are having sectionals this week at Irvington Presbyterian Church; be sure to bring a music stand. Matt Kowalski and Rich Guillen are running this rehearsal. I’ll be looking forward to hearing about your successes with them.

I’ll be posting more photos and play-by-play on my personal blog — jce.ebernet.biz — so follow that site if you’d like to follow my tour of Sydney. Have a great rehearsal and a great week!

Please remember that we will be having sectionals this week on Monday, March 16, at Irvington Presbyterian Church (21 North Broadway, Irvington, NY). Click here for the church’s directions page. Note: Their website lists 21 North Broadway on the homepage, 25 North Broadway on the directions page.

IMPORTANT: Please be sure to bring your own music stand!!!

Brass will meet in the Parlor, at the rear of the main building. Woodwinds will meet in the social hall, behind the main building.

Matt Kowalski will lead one sectional, rehearsing North by Northwest and the Ives Variations. Rich Guillen will lead the other sectional, rehearsing the Maslanka short symphony. Halfway through the rehearsal, they will switch. Thank you in advance for giving them your respect and attention.

Tom McCauley will meet you on March 23 for the next full rehearsal, back at Tarrytown Music Hall.

Have a great rehearsal. I’ll be eager to hear how it went!

On Monday evening at TMH we will read through the full program for July 4 — all except the three baritone solo numbers, which Matt Podd is currently writing. I expect to have those arrangements in hand by mid-April.

Nancy has organized music and will hand several pieces out at the beginning of the rehearsal. Other music will be handed out as we move through the evening. I need to ask you to download one piece — Highlights from Anything Goes — and bring it on Monday. Click here to download the parts. If your part is one of several in that particular PDF file, be sure to select only the pages you need when you print, to save paper and ink/toner.

I’ve updated the rehearsal plan for Monday. We need to read through this entire program to give everyone a clear idea about the depth of our program. As I’ve discussed before, I’m concerned about the immediacy of this concert, coming on the heels of the Chicago trip, which comes on the heels of the May concert at TMH. You get the idea.

I’ve also updated my spreadsheet with the repertoire for the rest of the season – click here. (You can always access this sheet from the Resources page.) Click the Spring tab to view the May 16 concert repertoire, the Spring Inst tab to view the instrumentation for every piece, and the Spring Reh tab to see my tentative rehearsal plans for the cycle. You’ll also see tabs for the June concert in Chicago and July 4th concert at Caramoor.

We had a great rehearsal this past Monday! Thanks for your hard work. Here’s a quick reminder of what’s coming up over the next several weeks, including the two weeks I’m away in Australia:

• Monday, March 16 at Irvington Presbyterian Church (woodwinds and brass only): Sectionals on NxNW, Ives/Variations, and Maslanka. Matt Kowalski and Rich Guillen will conduct these sectionals. Everyone: Please bring a music stand to this one rehearsal!
• Monday, March 23 at TMH: Full rehearsal at TMH with Tom McCauley conducting Maslanka, Lauridsen, and Bernstein.
• Monday, March 30: No rehearsal! (Westchester County schools vacation week)
• Monday, April 6: Full rehearsal at TMH. I’ll be back for this rehearsal.

So yes, after this Monday, I won’t see you all together until April 6. So it’s very important that we take advantage of our guest conductors on March 16 & 23.

Have a great week. Spring is 14 days away on March 20! (Did you know it’s no longer on March 21?) See you Monday.

And don’t forget to move your clocks ahead one hour on Saturday night!