The Board has discussed the input that individual players shared over the past two weeks concerning our pending future rehearsals. Dr. Ron MacKenzie also shared his professional medical opinion.

• We must all agree that the November concert is compromised. There’s no sense in pretending that we can put things in place to make it normal. And there’s no guarantee that it will be a normal concert with a live audience; we need to continue to consider all possibilities, including a webcast with no in-person audience.
• As we plan, we need to keep in mind the perspective of those who are the most vulnerable physically and emotionally. No one should feel coerced to participate if not comfortable.
• We need to proceed with week-to-week decisions. Ron will provide professional medical input and data points each week. There’s no sense in making a call on rehearsals more than one week ahead, without a crystal ball.

For Monday, October 4, we will rehearse with woodwinds only.

• 7:30-8:45 pm – All woodwinds (rep TBA)
• 8:45-9:45 pm – All clarinets, solo Eb clarinet, solo piccolo, solo Bb clarinet, solo bass clarinet, solo oboe, solo bassoon, solo English horn (Posy III intensive; other woodwinds will be dismissed)
• We will run a Zoom during the entire rehearsal. All players are encouraged to watch/listen so we can maintain as much engagement as possible. That said, I have no expectations of 100% focused viewing, but I want to be sure we make the effort to provide everyone equal access to the work done that night.
• We’ll make a decision about October 11 after this rehearsal. Yes, it’s a holiday, but it’s on our calendar and we expect to rehearse in some form.
• We recognize that we cannot please everyone all the time with these difficult decisions. We are all doing the best we can for the musical, physical, and emotional health of everyone.

Please consider:

• Any player who is not comfortable with attending one or more rehearsals under these conditions should contact David Church (personnel@westchestersymphonicwinds.org) to be excused. 
• Although TMH has given us a mask waiver (because we are a 100% vaccinated, closed group), players who feel more comfortable wearing masks during rehearsals at TMH are encouraged to do so. However, no one is required to wear a mask during rehearsals at this point.
• The air conditioning with MERV filters will continue to run throughout our rehearsal. Consider the cooler temperatures when choosing rehearsal attire.
• The stage fog exhaust fan will run, with regular on/off intervals, throughout the rehearsal. We had reports of member headaches from running the fan consistently, and the generated noise level is also a concern. So we will go with intervallic running of the fan. 
• We will continue to monitor the viability of the concert itself in the weeks ahead.

Thank you for your patience and support as we continue to navigate these pandemic waters.

As announced, we’ll hold a sectional rehearsal for all brass and percussion on Monday night at TMH, 7:30-9:45 pm. Please complete this quick health screening form after 8:00 am on the day of rehearsal. Click here for the rehearsal plan. Please use the back door only (off the parking lot). The Hall will open at 7:00 pm for setup.

The Board is meeting on Tuesday to make decisions about rehearsals moving forward. If you have an opinion regarding health and safety at TMH, please speak to a Board member at rehearsal Monday (or contact them directly) to share your thoughts.

A couple “quick hits” news items:

1. After a year’s hiatus of required dues because of the pandemic shutdown, the Board has acted to reinstitute dues for full-time members. Dues are $100 per season for full-time members (September to July), regardless of the number of concerts of which you might opt out. You can pay by check payable to WSW, Zelle, PayPal, and Square — and we even accept cash! Please hand payments to Marge Hone, our intrepid treasurer; speak to her about details for Zelle. We’re working on a Venmo account (it’s a little trickier to set up than Zelle.) 
   
   If you have a concern about dues because of a personal financial situation, please speak to Marge; we try to work with everyone to accommodate periodic payments and more. 
   
   
2. Our organization depends on efficient communication with our members. Please remember that we operate two websites for the band, each with its own specific audience: 
   • www.westchestersymphonicwinds.org is our public-facing site. We periodically send emails to all audience subscribers to advertise our concerts. Eric Milkie is our webmaster. This site does not contain “inside info” for our members. (But a menu/link will soon be added for “Members Only” directing you to my site, below, just in case.)
   • wsw.ebernet.biz is the site I maintain for members. If you’re looking for answers about rehearsal/concert schedules, repertoire, finding the season brochure or concert flyer or press release, or any other resources that are member-oriented, you can most likely find it here. The weekly post emails I send are also archived here. This is your first stop for member information, so please bookmark the site if you haven’t already.
   • It goes without saying that reading the emails we send is critical. We’ve had a number of instances of confusion because emails simply weren’t read. Your participation pivots on keeping up with our announcements and new. 
     
     
3. What is a Gum-Sucker anyway? Here is an explanation, in Percy’s own words:

   A “Gum-Sucker” is an Australian nickname for Australians born in Victoria, the home state of the composer. The eucalyptus trees that abound in Victoria are called “gums”, and the young shoots at the bottom of the trunk are called “suckers”; so “gum-sucker” came to mean a young native son of Victoria, just as Ohioans are nicknamed “Buck-eyes”. In the march, Grainger used his own Australian Up-Country Tune melody, written by him to typify Australia, which melody he also employed in his Colonial Song for two voices and orchestra, or military band. – Program Note by Percy Aldridge Grainger

4. The Grainger House Museum and International Grainger Society are collaborating on this concert with us. There will be a lobby display of archival photos, programs, letters, and more, and we’re hoping that Barry Ould, the society president may be joining us that day.
   
   The Grainger House Museum (6 Cromwell Place in White Plains; walking distance from all the restaurants on Mamaroneck Avenue) will have an Open House on Saturday, November 13 from 1:00-3:00 pm. We have our dress rehearsal that morning (9:00-12:00), so please consider making plans to have lunch and then join us to explore the house where Percy lived and worked for 40 years, from 1921 until his death in 1961. “Fascinating” does not even begin to describe this place. I’m planning on going, and I hope many of you will too!

We’re getting some emails with questions regarding rehearsal today. There is no rehearsal today. As I posted on Wednesday:

• Rehearsal this week is tomorrow evening, Monday, September 20 for woodwinds and percussion at TMH, 7:30-9:45 pm.
• Rehearsal next week is Monday, September 27 for brass and percussion at TMH, 7:30-9:45 pm.

Please review this post if you have any questions regarding our return to TMH tomorrow night.

Board actions

At last evening’s Board meeting, we discussed the input received from individual conversations at rehearsal on Sunday. We agreed that the COVID landscape continues to evolve, and there is certainly no way to predict anything at this point. We discussed all the ongoing safety factors with due gravity, and included Dr. Ron MacKenzie in our conversation. The Board has decided to take these actions, with Ron’s full endorsement:

• We will return to rehearsals at TMH on Monday, September 20, with reduced numbers of participants in sectionals for the next two weeks (see schedule below). This will allow for physical distancing between players. There is no rehearsal at Masters on September 19.
• We have confirmed with TMH that we will have access to use the MERV filtration system connected to the air conditioning system. In addition we will use the stage fog exhaust fan to further the air circulation.
• Any player scheduled to play for the Fall Concert who is not comfortable attending these sectionals should contact David Church. Use the email he has shared or personnel@westchestersymphonicwinds.org. Note that absences will not be counted against the two allowed per cycle.
• TMH has confirmed that they continue to require all performers at rehearsals to be vaccinated.
• TMH has confirmed that masks are now required of all audience members during performances. However, since we are abiding by their vaccination policy and there are no audience members at our rehearsals, masks are not required during our rehearsals. Any player who feels safer to wear a mask throughout the rehearsal, or during non-playing portions of the rehearsal, is welcome to do so.
• The Board will ask again for individual input from players during these two weeks of sectionals and then make decisions concerning upcoming weeks, whether to continue sectionals or return to full ensemble rehearsals at TMH. Although we have access to the tent at Masters through October 10, at this time we have no active plans to use the tent and have Sunday rehearsals again.

Sectional schedule

• Please plan for sectionals as follows:
  • Monday, September 20, 7:30-9:45 pm at TMH – all Woodwinds and Percussion
  • Monday, September 27, 7:30-9:45 pm at TMH – all Brass and Percussion
• Rehearsal plans for each sectional will differ and will be posted by the Friday before each sectional. For now, both sectionals should definitely plan to work on Posy and In a Nutshell.

Thank you for your continued support as we navigate these evolving waters.