I just heard from Karina at the Music Hall this morning, and the children’s theater booking on Monday night is canceled – therefore, we can start at our regular 7:30 pm time tomorrow night. Please share this information with anyone who doesn’t read their email regularly so we have everyone for an on-time start.

After much ado with the release of our original travel agent, and hiring of Bruce Bevan and World Class Vacations, plus development and editing, I now have our Chicago information ready to distribute. Click here for the November 2014 Exchange Bulletin, which contains information about our itinerary, flights, home-stays, hotel, plus the Commitment Form for everyone to complete and return, and a letter for music educators who need documentation for school administrators to justify the day off on Monday, June 15. (I will be happy to customize this letter for anyone who needs it tweaked.)

Please read this important information and we will answer questions at the break on Monday. We are asking to get commitment replies back by Monday, December 1.

I have also edited the rehearsal plan for tomorrow night to reflect the 7:30 pm start. Please review. I’ll see you then!

I’ve updated the rehearsal plan for Monday’s rehearsal. Please remember that we start at 8:00 pm, following the children’s theater event. I recommend arriving at 7:40 pm. Please help us set up the stage quickly. Remember that the TMH staff is there to help us; if there’s an issue, to speak to a Board member.

The parts for the Carmen Fantasia rental, including the solo parts, only arrived yesterday. The piece is 26 minutes long, and I need to cut 2 or 3 of the movements to make it manageably in the 15 minute range as I had planned. If I can confer with Bill & Chris in time, we’ll hand out and read the appropriate sections on Monday. If not, I’ll extend the Tschaikovsky section of the rehearsal and start some “meat and potatoes” rehearsal of that piece right away. As I wrote earlier this week, the Tschaikovsky Finale parts are ready for download. Please go to this link, find your part by instrument family, download/print your part, and be sure to begin to practice this part before Monday.

Please also note that I’ve updated the Resources & Forms page on this site. Included/updated now are the current brochure, current ad form, and current spreadsheet for repertoire for the season, including the recently updated instrumentation for the Winter Concert. If you’re a section leader, check out the Winter Instrumentation tab of that spreadsheet to see the part distribution.

See you Monday!

Congratulations on a wonderful program on Sunday. There were some great moments in so many pieces. Sleep was magical. Michael Markowski was very pleased with City Trees, and Brian Worsdale, who conducted its premiere, thought we “nailed it.” Peter Martin’s piece had incredible energy. And we had tremendous feedback for Jeff Goodwin’s solos and the Armed Forces Medley. We had rave reviews from our regular patrons and new attendees, and our sponsors were thrilled. Thank you, individually and collectively, for your part in the program. We’ll talk more the concert on Monday.

The Tschaikovsky Finale parts are ready for download. Please go to this link, find your part by instrument family, and download/print your part for Monday. I urge you to print and start to practice these parts as soon as possible, before Monday!

We start up with the first rehearsal for the Winter Concert this coming Monday at 8:00 pm (another late start) at the Music Hall. I still plan on finishing by 9:45 pm. See you then!

I’ve gotten confirmation that we can start to set up on Saturday morning at 8:15 am. Please come early to help us set the stage. We will not have risers and the shell, however, until Sunday.

We must finish by 11:45 am and completely clear out of the Music Hall by 12:00 pm. This is very important. The staff must be able to start setup for the evening event by noon.

I’ve created a rehearsal plan for Saturday morning that allows 40 minutes for Dr. Martin to work with the group, gives us a full 10 minute break, and still gets us done by 11:45 am. Please help us stay on schedule by arriving in plenty of time, ready, caffeinated, and warmed up, ready to start on time at 9:00 am.

This is a rather complex and involved concert. I’m looking forward to performing with you.

Also, please join me in offering our sincere condolences to Rich Williams, whose father passed this past week. The memorial service is scheduled for Saturday, November 22 at 2:00 pm at the Larchmont Avenue Presbyterian Church, 60 Forest Park Avenue (Larchmont Avenue and Forest Park Avenue), Larchmont, NY 10538. Rich extends an invitation for all to attend.