Kudos

“It takes a village.” I can’t think of a better example of that old adage than yesterday’s concert. So many moving parts, so many solos, so many tricky entrances and meter changes, all compressed in one afternoon with one goal — sharing our love of music — and accomplished with only one full rehearsal inside the Music Hall. When you have a chance, I recommend checking out the archived video on our YouTube channel. And I’m very eager to hear the final audio recording when produced.

I wish I could have thanked you all individually yesterday as we left the stage. Instead, this note of gratitude will have to do. Thank you to each and every one of you for your contributions to such a successful concert. 

Upcoming schedule includes some challenges

There’s no rehearsal tonight. We meet as a full ensemble next Monday, November 22 at 7:30 pm in TMH to read through the Winter Concert program. At that point, I’ll announce how we are proceeding through the next three weeks (November 29, December 6 & 13) before our winter break. In the meantime, if you have an association with a school that might be a potential alternate rehearsal site (must have chairs, stands, and percussion), please contact me. There are five Mondays that TMH is not available in January/February. We have two Saturday mornings reserved in January at TMH, but I want to avoid them if at all possible!

Enjoy the week — thank you again!

Here we go. This is it. We’re finally all going to be together for Saturday’s dress rehearsal and Sunday’s concert. Please encourage family, friends, students to attend — or watch the webcast which will be streamed right on our website at www.westchestersymphonicwinds.org.

All concert details are repeated below.

Saturday, November 13

9:00 am – 12:00 pm: Dress rehearsal. Please enter from the back door. Remember that you need to plug the meters (or use the app). We need to set up and tear down, because there is a Roseanne Cash concert Saturday night.

Be sure to complete the quick health screening form before arriving. My intention is to rehearse sections in every piece that need to be addressed, take a break (use this time to renew your meter), and then run the program. I expect to be finished and clear of the space by or before noon.

Sunday, November 14

IMPORTANT: We must wear masks anytime we step off stage or out of the backstage area. 

12:00 pm – TMH opens for us to set the stage. Please consider coming early to help. Be sure to complete the quick health screening form again before arriving. The crew will have brought up all chairs/stands/percussion/piano late on Saturday night, and set the risers. We are not using the shell. We just need to place everything in place.

12:45 pm – Please arrive by 12:45 so we can start the sound check on time, and end at or before 2:00 pm.

1:00 pm – Sound check rehearsal. 

2:00 pm – Break.

2:45 pm – Pre-show Grainger House video plays on the screen at front of stage. Percussion and rows 3/4 can slip in and take seats quietly while video plays.

2:56 pm – Video ends, crew raises screen. Rows 1/2 take seats (some chair/stand adjustment might be necessary).

3:00 pm – When house lights dim, Gina gives tuning pitches and we go. After the concert, the TMH crew will tear down everything.

Here again are all the concert details published over the past weeks:

• Dress rehearsal is Saturday, November 13, from 9:00 am to 12:00 pm for all personnel. 
• Sound check is 1:00 pm on concert day, Sunday, November 14. The Hall is open to us at 12:00 pm that day for setup. 
• Attire for the concert is concert black, like all previous concerts. Please do not wear cologne or perfume on concert day.
• TMH crew will set up the risers and bring up chairs/stands/percussion on concert day. We just need to move our chairs/stands into place. They will also tear down everything after the concert.
• Concert run time is approximately one hour 15 minutes, with no intermission. The concert has 38 minutes of program time. 
• All audience members must present proof of COVID vaccination and wear masks during the performance. 
• The Grainger House representatives are preparing a short video that will be projected on the screen at the front of the stage at approximately 2:45 pm. The screen will then be raised, and then the players at the front of the stage will take their seats. I’ve invited Susan Edwards Colson, from the Grainger House board, to welcome the audience near the beginning of the program. 
• We are presenting our second Life Achievement Award to Joe Greco near the end of the program. Joe has made innumerable contributions to music education in Westchester County and several of his former students from Ardsley High School play in our ensemble.
• Concert tickets are now available through the TMH Box Office. Please share this link for anyone looking to purchase tickets. (Many thanks to Rebecca Weissman for her help with the box office graphic and press release!)
• We are again offering half-price Friends & Family tickets @ $10.00 each. See Rachel or Marge to purchase these tickets, or contact her to reserve tickets (first and last name/number of tickets) for COD pickup at Will Call. (Note: for this season, the board suspended the quota of six F&F tickets per member.)
• Concert flyers are available for download on the Resources page. I will also have hard copies available on Monday.
• This concert will be webcast by TMH. The webcast can be viewed on our main ensemble site (www.westchestersymphonicwinds.org), and streamed (and archived) via our YouTube channel. Please encourage friends and family outside the tri-state area to join us in this way. We are not ticketing viewership for the webcast, but I will be encouraging those watching to make a donation in lieu of the cost of admission. The board will assess the success of the webcast and make decisions regarding webcasts of future concerts.

Thank you — everyone — for all the effort and dedication you have brought to this ensemble during this difficult time. Sunday should be very exciting!

One more Monday night

We’re continuing with the Marcus ensemble this Monday, November 8. See my home page to review personnel in each ensemble, listen to rehearsal recordings, and complete the health screening form.

NOTE: If you were not able to attend the Neiman rehearsal last week for any reason, please consider attending on Monday night! We won’t overcrowd the stage with a couple extra players!

The rehearsal on November 8 again follows a Random Farms theater performance, so unfortunately we cannot enter the Hall until 8:00 pm. Please meet in front of the Music Hall, next to the marquee and not blocking the doors, at 7:45 pm. As soon as we’re cleared to enter, we’ll move in, set up, and start the rehearsal. Please don’t gather at the rear stage door. And once it appears that all parents/children have left the theater, please don’t move past the interior lobby until the crew gives us clearance to move into the house and onto the stage. And again, because of the late start, please plan to rehearse an additional 15 minutes, until 10:00 pm, like we did last week.

Dress rehearsal & concert details

Ron MacKenzie has endorsed a full ensemble dress rehearsal on November 13 (scheduled for 9:00 am – 12:00 pm), and the Board has agreed, so we will be able to have one full rehearsal before the concert on November 14. Obviously, this will be a critically important dress rehearsal.

To review the important concert information details sent previously, please click here. This post includes the rehearsal schedule challenges that face us as we move into the winter cycle. If you have not already, please review these details. They are quite important.

ACB National Board – please support my candidacy

I was invited to run for the national board of the Association of Concert Band by the new president-elect, and so I’m currently on the ballot. I believe I can make a difference in an organization that is already doing great work for American community bands. If you hold an individual membership in ACB, I hope you’ll cast your ballot and vote for me. If you don’t hold membership, I urge you to consider it — and not just because I’m hoping to be elected. Membership includes the Naxos Classical Music Library Streaming Service at no charge (which is worth far more than the $40 annual membership fee, especially for teachers), and there are many other membership perks as well. You can join ACB by clicking here. Voting continues through December 5.

Rehearsal notes for Irish Tune

Lastly, I made a musical decision in the waning moments of rehearsal last week, which I now want to change. Those attending heard a choice I made regarding m.61. I would like to retract that decision now, and ask that everyone playing the melody take a breath between beats 1 & 2 of m.61 (between the slurs) to create a new and final four bar phrase. Everyone else with the counterline (Clarinet 1 & 3, Alto sax, all Horns, and Euphonium) please do not breathe between beats 1 & 2 of m.61, but instead play with strong air support at that point opposite the breath in the melody.

Please also note the da-da-da articulation indicated at m.49. We want a very light articulation as marked, but extremely connected. The end result should have a sound that is different than the phrases with simple slurs.

The next two Monday nights

We’re continuing with the Neiman & Marcus ensembles for 2 more weeks, on November 1 & 8. See my home page to review personnel in each ensemble. For our final two working rehearsals, the Neiman ensemble will rehearse again this Monday, November 1, and the Marcus ensemble will rehearse on November 8. 

The rehearsals on November 1 & 8 follow Random Farms theater performances, so unfortunately we cannot enter the Hall until 8:00 pm. Please meet in front of the Music Hall, next to the marquee and not blocking the doors, at 7:45 pm on both these weeks. As soon as we’re cleared to enter, we’ll move in, set up, and start the rehearsal. Please don’t gather at the rear stage door on these two evenings. Because of the late start, please plan to rehearse an additional 15 minutes, until 10:00 pm, on these two nights.

Dress rehearsal

Ron MacKenzie has endorsed a full ensemble dress rehearsal on November 13 (scheduled for 9:00 am – 12:00 pm), and the Board has agreed, so we will be able to have one full rehearsal before the concert on November 14. Obviously, this will be a critically important dress rehearsal.

Concert details

To review the concert information details I sent last week, please click here. This post includes the rehearsal schedule challenges that face us as we move into the winter cycle. If you have not already, please review these details.

Hang in there — we’re almost there!