This week:

• Ads are due on Monday. Please turn in ad forms, ad copy, and payments to Tom Sweezey, who is organizing everything for me.
• Trombones (including Marc & Erin) are rehearsing the Higgins as a sectional at 6:45 pm. Just leave your stands in place, as Higgins will be the first number rehearsed at 7:30.
• The rehearsal plan includes Warrington (drum set shared with Higgins), Holmquist (Jim Savage is coming to narrate), and more. I’m making a cut in the Meacham march; I’ll explain this on Monday. In the meantime, please edit your parts to make a cut from letter F (no trumpet pickups) to letter G.
• We are still hoping that New Rochelle HS will confirm our rehearsal at their site on Monday, November 4, avoiding a compromised 8:00 pm start at TMH on the final Monday before the concert. Assuming this is confirmed, we intend to cancel the Wednesday, November 6 rehearsal at TMH. As of 10/19, we’re still waiting for New Rochelle HS to confirm, so please continue to be patient awaiting confirmation.
• Remember that Chris, Mike, and Rich are playing in Peekskill tonight, if you’re looking for some relaxation and entertainment!
• The Fall Concert is 3 weeks from tomorrow!

See you Monday!

Here are a few quick items to remember:

• Rehearsal tomorrow evening (plan is posted) at 7:30, brass quintet is meeting at 6:30 pm.
• Next Monday, the trombones are meeting for a sectional for the HIggins. Could we say 6:45 pm (instead of 7:00, as discussed), so we don’t have to hurry and can have plenty of time for setup?
• Ads are due next Monday, October 21. Find the ad form here.
• For years, I’ve thought rehearsals were essentially a stand up routine with musical interludes. Since I’m teaching several sections of Public Speaking now at Masters, they sent me to the Scarsdale Adult School for a Stand Up Comedy class in an attempt to improve my teaching skills. The class is culminating with a class show at The Comic Strip Live on the Upper East Side next Sunday, October 20 at 5:00 pm. If you’d like to heckle me in person, you can find show details here.

See you Monday evening!

We’re now just a little more than a month away from the Fall Concert. As we’re moving forward, keep these announcements in mind:

• I’m meeting with the Warrington Dixieland soloists on stage this Monday at 6:30 pm for a sectional. This piece will then be up first on the rehearsal at 7:30 pm.
• Ads are due in 2 weeks, on October 21. Please give ad copy, ad form (critical for processing and assembling the book), and payments to Tom Sweezey.
• The Board voted to cancel ONE of these rehearsals: Monday, November 4 or Wednesday, November 6. The decision as to which one will be canceled depends on the availability of an alternate rehearsal site (likely at New Rochelle HS); that availability is still pending.
• The Board voted to add a community outreach concert at Congregation Kol Ami in White Plains, on Saturday evening, February 29 at 8:00 pm (call at 6:00 pm). This was one of the dates we put out as a possibility last spring. This is now posted on our rehearsal/performance calendar; please add it to your personal calendar, and confirm your participation for that date with David. All of the repertoire for this concert (45 minutes of program time, like we did in 2016) will come from the Fall and Winter Concerts, and likely one from Caramoor; there will be nothing new on this program.
• We’re still hoping to find a possible Exchange partner for the high school band coming from Minnesota in April, and for a clarinet player for the Headless Horseman production in November. The details for both are in this post.
• The Maslanka Symphony parts arrived! We need to process and assign the parts, because this is a rental, and then we’ll hand them out, hopefully next week. We’ll dedicate the November 18 rehearsal to the first reading and discussion of this work, which will be performed on May 16, 2020. Clarinets — please reserve 6:30 pm that night for a sectional prior to the rehearsal, to address the “babies” solos. Manny Ramos, our clarinet soloist for the Villa-Lobos from the West Point Band, will be on hand to lead a presentation on the techniques required for these solos. Manny has performed and recorded this symphony with Mallory Thompson, and understands the demands of this symphony very well.
• See the separate email I am sending regarding a jazz project Ron MacKenzie is promoting.

Looking forward to our rehearsal on Monday night. See you then.

As soon as I hit send, I realized that I neglected to include this note of thanks from Bob Bennett, to everyone who played his SOMS Fanfare last week:

“Thank you so much for reading my work and bringing it to life.  My students will no doubt benefit from your stellar interpretation.  If anybody is interested in acquiring the work, please let me know and I will give you a PDF au gratis, as a thank you for your time.  All I ask is that you don’t distribute it.  Thanks again! Bob”

If you’d like a copy of the score and parts, speak to Bob, or I also have a set that I can distribute.