Monday evening

Regular rehearsal at TMH, starting at 7:30 pm. The rehearsal plan is posted.

Sweet 16 bracket

Eighteen members have responded — let’s wrap this up! Click here to make 8 choices.

Sunday evening

Mallory Thompson will redefine “epic” on Sunday evening, as Northwestern celebrates the 50th anniversary of the NU Symphonic Wind Ensemble with a live streamed concert from Pick-Staiger Concert Hall, featuring 150 SWE alumni who now populate the country’s most prestigious professional orchestras and military bands. The program includes everything from the Holst Eb Suite to Sleep to Manlanka No. 2 Finale to Hindemith Symphony (first movement) to the rarely performed Ode to the End of the War by Prokofiev.

I am heartbroken that I won’t be in attendance to watch my dear friend bring this once-in-a-lifetime collection of instrumentalists together — but the concert will be livestreamed at 7:30 pm CDT (8:30 pm EDT). And since WSW played on this stage 4 years ago, I know you will recognize the stage and hall.

Click here for the program PDF (still in the proofing stage).
Click here for the live stream. It goes live at 7:20 pm CDT (8:20 pm EDT).

I hope you are able to catch part of this concert. It will be great inspiration for our rehearsal Monday. See you then!

We’re back to work this Monday. We’ll read through the entire Caramoor program. We then have only three rehearsals to rehearse these pieces before our dress rehearsal on July 3 and performance at Caramoor on July 4. Click here for this week’s rehearsal plan.

I computed the results from Round 2 of the Repertoire Bracket Challenge, and we’re down to the Sweet 16. You only need to make 8 choices now. Please vote!
Click here to see the updated bracket.
Click here to vote!

See you Monday!

Spring Concert

I have to start this post by thanking everyone for your spectacular performance on May 11. The band has never sounded better! I received the recording, and removing the sound shell not only gave us more room, it actually improved the depth and resonance of the band. Rob and Rich completely agree. Tim Stoddard is our hero, the soloists superb, the students from Masters were patient and on point, and the Barton’s arrangement was epic in every way. Congratulations, all!

Memorial Day

I hope everyone is enjoying the Memorial Day weekend. Although we have picnics and trips to the beach, do take a moment and remember the real reason for this holiday — to remember those who gave the ultimate sacrifice so that we all may enjoy all the freedoms that we too readily take for granted. If you’re working tomorrow, especially if you are participating in parades, all the best to you and good luck to your students!

Tootsie received 11 Tony nominations!

Sue Winthrop, bass clarinet, is thrilled with the recent array of nomination for Tootsie, for which she is an executive producer and a backer. Congratulations to Sue and the show! There are discussions about a WSW field trip to see the production. Details coming soon.

T-shirts!

We now have official WSW T-shirts! Thank you, Chris Larsen! See Chris to purchase at the next rehearsal.

RiverArts

Next weekend, Rich Dashnaw will be among many local musicians participating in this year’s RiverArts Festival. Catch Rich with Andrew V. Craig at 6:00 pm on Saturday, June 1, at the Upstream Gallery, 8 Main Street, Hastings-on-Hudson. Check out the entire RiverArts program here.  

Caramoor rehearsals begin June 3

The final push for the 2019 season begins a week from Monday at 7:30 pm at Tarrytown Music Hall. We’ll read the entire program that night. 

See you on June 3!

I am sad to report that our wonderful tenor, John Anthony Lopez, has been stricken with bronchitis. He contacted me early this morning to say he cannot sing this evening.

With a lot of assistance, we were able to find another wonderful tenor to sing the Jean Valjean role, Timothy Stoddard. The soloists are coming a little early to go over the ensemble numbers with him, but I have to give fair warning that we will have to run Bring Him Home during the soundcheck, in addition to the finale. Please adjust your warm up accordingly.

See you in seats at 5:30 pm.