Happy Thanksgiving!

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Happy Thanksgiving to you, your families, and your friends! We are lucky to enjoy so many gifts, and it’s good to stop and take stock of how lucky we all are. I am particularly grateful for all of you, for your musicianship, and for your dedication to this ensemble.

Next Monday we’re rehearsing Svanhoe, Gershwin, and Saucedo. I received a reply from Erika Svahoe concerning the questions I posed concerning her suite, and rehearsed with Josh Pierce, our Gershwin pianist, on Tuesday. This is going to be a great program!

Enjoy the holiday, and I’ll see you next Monday!

Late start at TMH on Monday

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This week: Late start on Monday at TMH, chamber music concert on Sunday in Katonah, Amazon Smile, our Glockenspiel Fund, and a special promotion at Music & Arts.

Monday’s rehearsal

We have another late start again on Monday at TMH because of another Random Farms children’s theater performance. Please gather at the marquee doors at 7:30 pm (but please don’t block the doors, as parents/students will be exiting). When the crew gives the all clear, then we’ll take the stage to set up and warm up.

Nancy will have our new music to distribute, to add to your folders. Trumpet and percussion parts will be given directly to Stan and Mark/Eric.

We’ll be reading the Winter Concert rep. I’m planning to still finish at 9:45 pm, even though we have the late start. Please be on time and ready to roll quickly when we get the all clear signal.

Chamber Music concert – Sunday at 3:00 pm

As Rich Dashnaw has announced, there is a chamber music concert this Sunday at 3:00 pm at the First Presbyterian Church of Katonah, 31 Bedford Road in Katonah. Several of our WSW members will be featured, including Chris Peña, as he (finally!) performs Rich’s Rhapsody for Clarinet, accompanied by Janice Vuoso. I attended last year, and this is a wonderful opportunity to hear some of our members in a completely different musical milieu.

Amazon Smile benefits WSW!

With the holidays approaching, it’s likely that many of us are shopping on Amazon. Their Smile program allows you to make a 0.5% contribution of your purchase to your favorite charity (ahem, that would be WSW) every time you shop, at no extra cost to you. Although this is a small percentage, it’s incredibly easy, and small benefits add up in the long run.

To register, go to http://smile.amazon.com, sign into your Amazon account, and then follow the prompts to select Westchester Symphonic Winds as your charity. Then just initiate your Amazon search to shop at http://smile.amazon.com every time you shop. That’s it! So far, our organization has received over $200.00 from Amazon. and it’s free money!

Glockenspiel Fund

With the end of the tax year approaching, please consider this particular WSW fundraising project as you assess charitable donation. In October, Chris Larsen announced this memorial fund project on Facebook, in memory of his father, Gaylord Larsen:

We are celebrating my father’s life by launching the Gaylord Larsen Memorial Glockenspiel Fund for the Westchester Symphonic Winds. I hope you will consider donating to this cause, which will allow the band to purchase a glockenspiel, case, mallets and an engraved plaque for the instrument.

Gaylord was a life-long music lover who encouraged Chris at every level of his musical education and attended every performance of the Westchester Symphonic Winds that he could. You’ll find Gaylord in the baritone horn section of this photo from the Jackson, Minnesota High School BAND-O-RAMA, circa 1953. He was the best.❤️Here’s how to donate:
• Write a check payable to Westchester Symphonic Winds, designate Gaylord Larsen Fund on the memo line, and hand to Marge Hone, treasurer.
• Or use the WSW Paypal Link here: https://www.westchestersymphonicwinds.org/contributions

Thanks for considering this worthy project.

Attention music educators – Music and Arts Event on November 30

Jim Savage passed on this message from tubist Josh Mandel, who works for Music & Arts, concerning a promotion event scheduled for next Saturday at the Holiday Inn in Mount Kisco.

I just wanted to let you know about the event we have coming up at the end of the month on Saturday the 30th from 11-3.  The flyer is attached & certainly feel free to pass around as you see fit.
 
We will be having a nice variety of step up & professional instruments available for students to try.  We’ll also have special pricing for the event as well and as a variety of financing options.
 
If there are students who are still renting or who have an instrument that is not serving them well, this would be a great event to have them come to.  You are also certainly most welcome if your schedule allows.
 
We are ideally looking to make appointments for the day, so anyone who is interested should certainly reach out to me either by phone or email.  
 
If there is someone who would like to take advantage of the event but cannot make the 30th, please have them reach out to me I will do everything in my power to accommodate them.

See you Monday!

Monday at New Rochelle HS

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Concert debrief

First, thank you all so very, very much for the fabulous performance this past Sunday. I am indebted to all the individuals who contributed in small and large ways to make another concert so successful. It was a great start for our 32nd season. We’ll talk more about this on Monday.

Monday – Maslanka at New Rochelle High School Band Room, 7:15-9:30 pm

This rehearsal is for all personnel playing the Spring Concert on May 16. If you have indicated that you can’t play on February 9 but intend to play on May 16, please attend this rehearsal.

Remember that we’re rehearsing on Monday at New Rochelle. As in the past (and especially for subs/new players), you must follow these directions to the Band Room. The campus is huge. If you ask Siri or Alexa or your robot of choice to get directions to New Rochelle HS, she’ll take you to the other side of campus, more than 1/4 mile away, and you’ll never find the Band Room!

As noted on the rehearsal plan, the clarinets are meeting 45 minutes early to have a sectional clinic with Manny Ramos, from the West Point Band, on the “babies” section of the Maslanka at m.712-732.

We’ll all gather to begin rehearsal at 7:15 pm (per our mutual discussion/agreement, because we have to stop at 7:30 pm to reset the room and clear out by 9:45 pm).

I’ll be sharing insights and research on the symphony, including a lot of information about the form and inspiration of the piece, and we’ll be playing sections of the symphony, one at a time. This will not be a “play it down” sort of rehearsal. We just can’t approach it that way.

Enjoy the weekend — see you Monday!