Performances TODAY

• The Rich Dashnaw Trio (Rich on bass, Michael Lucke on piano, Chris Larsen on drums) will be performing at the Jefferson Valley Mall today, from 2:00-4:00 pm, sponsored by Ford Piano (who gave us the great deal on the ACB piano rental). It will be great! I plan on being there (some early Christmas shopping for Oleg, Mikhail, Igor, and Viktor), so I hope to see you there!
• The Imperial Brass are performing tonight at 7:00 pm at Westside Presbyterian Church in Ridgewood, NJ (home of the New Jersey Wind Symphony) with guest soloists Philip Smith and Joe Alessi, guest composers Joseph Turrin and Patrick Burns, and more. The concert celebrates the legacy of Mark Freeh, and includes a finale massed brass band. (This is one of those once-in-a-lifetime everyone-and-their-brother-is-involved concerts. I’m hoping to make this as well after my late afternoon commitment in Bergen County).

2019-2020 Season

It’s time to ask everyone for commitments for next season. Please see the form below (or click here) and complete by Wednesday, July 3.

NOTE: If you complete the form directly from this post, be aware that you may need to scroll up after clicking Next to see the final page’s content.

Rep Bracket – Elite 8

So far I have 28 responses for the Elite 8 voting. But I suspect we’ve had some voting irregularities, as several votes were submitted by Oleg, Mikhail, Igor, and Viktor. Also, one of them left the comment, “Трамп большой ребенок!” So, if you haven’t voted, please do. There are only 4 choices in this round, and the next round (the last one!) will only have 2 choices. Our goal is to finalize this by July 4. Click here to vote!

Final working rehearsal this Monday

Our final working rehearsal is this Monday at TMH, followed by the dress rehearsal on Wednesday, July 3 at 7:30 pm at TMH. I believe the piccoli are meeting at 6:30 pm for a sectional.

Our soloists will join us on July 3. Please arrive on the grounds at Caramoor on July 4 by 3:30 pm. Sound check begins at 4:00 pm. Dinner is at 6:30 pm. Performance is at 8:00 pm.

We still have WSW T-shirts version 1.0 available for $20. The next batch will have additional style choices. See Chris on Monday. He’ll be happy to take your money.

Next season

Our concert dates next season are November 10, January 25, and May 16 at TMH, and July 4 at Caramoor. We’re looking at the possibility of one other concert off site, possibly in February or March. As I’ve done in the past several years, I’ll be sending out a form in a separate post to ask you for commitments for next season, including any exceptions you may have for specific performance/dress rehearsal date conflicts. Please start to check those dates, especially against school concerts for music educators, so you can complete that form once sent. Our hope is to get 100% response from the membership by July 4 when we say good-bye for the summer.

See you Monday!

Best wishes to all the fathers in our band! I hope you enjoyed your special day.

We have two working rehearsals remaining. See the posted plan for tomorrow night at TMH.

With 34 responses, I closed the Sweet Sixteen and set up the Elite Eight. Click here to see who won and by what percentage, and click here to vote.

See you Monday!

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!