I closed the Repertoire Bracket Project nomination form. Thanks to everyone to submitted one or more works, and especially to those who pitched their favorites last Monday. There were a total of 60 nominations, resulting in 51 unique nominations.
First seed with 3 nods Suite of Old American Dances by Robert Russell Bennett
Tie for second seed with 2 nods each: . . . and the mountains rising nowhere by Joseph Schwanter A Child’s Garden of Dreams, by David Maslanka Canzona, by Peter Mennin Sound and Smoke, by Viet Cuong Symphony in Bb, by Paul Hindemith Symphony No. 6, by Vincent Persichetti Variants on a Medieval Tune, by Norman Dello Joio
The remaining works received one nomination each.
I’ll assemble the bracket this week, with links to recordings and notes from the nominations, and then we’ll start to vote!
If you didn’t already, or if you’d like to submit another nomination for our Repertoire Bracket Challenge, you can continue to do so until Monday evening. Then I’ll shut it down and create the bracket.
You should have received the invitation to the celebration at the Serafin’s next Saturday via direct email. Contact me if it didn’t reach you.
Great rehearsal on Monday night! I was especially happy with the work on the Holsinger. I reviewed the rehearsal recording yesterday, and we really made great progress with that piece this week.
Big news – American Prize awards update
So, yesterday morning I decided to check the website for The American Prize again, to see if they had posted anything yet about our third nomination, for the Ernst Bacon Award for an American Music Performance. And I found this: (click here or on the image for the full article). If you open the link and scroll down, you’ll see WSW listed as a semi-finalist for the Ernst Bacon Award for an American Music Performance, for our performance, with Steve Cohen, of Michael Daugherty’s Brooklyn Bridge!
This means, of course, that we have earned three designations for semi-finalist status with The American Prize. As I searched through the nomination data, I found these ensembles/conductors had two nods for semi-finalist status:
Quincy Concert Band – Ensemble, Ernst Bacon (Maslanka – Give Us This Day)
Quad City – Ensemble, Ernst Bacon (works by Willson, Giroux, Moross, Curnow)
I also found college/university colleagues with two semi-finalist nods:
Jeff Gershman: ensemble (Capital University Symphonic Winds) and Ernst Bacon (works by George, Runestad, Ives, Maslanka)
Daniel Cook: conductor (Northwestern University Chamber Ensemble) and Ernst Bacon (Joseph Schwantner – Sparrows)
Joseph Higgins, our guest conductor in May: conductor (Rowan University Wind Ensemble) and Ernst Bacon (Corigliano – Mr. Tambourine Man)
But — as far as I could tell — WSW is the only ensemble to have received nominations as semi-finalists in three categories: ensemble, conductor, and Ernst Bacon. So, congratulations, and thank you for your dedication and perseverance! Even if this goes no further, this is outstanding recognition!
May tickets released
Also, our tickets were released on the TMH ticket site today for the Spring Concert. Notice that we (finally) made the headline on the ticketing announcement for the week! That’s really significant, I believe.
March 30
Please remember Gina’s invitation for the celebratory event that Gina announced on March 30. I’ll send a private email to give the details, address, etc.
As discussed — and agreed to — last week, we’re starting 15 minutes earlier at 7:15 pm this week so we can take a normal stretch break, finish rehearsal at 9:30 pm, and clear the room by 9:45 pm, as requested by the New Rochelle administration. And don’t forget to follow these directions, not GPS, so you can find the Band Room on this very large campus. We’re rehearsing ACB rep this week: Cichy, Gjeilo, and Holsinger.
And don’t forget to nominate your favorite work for band for our 2019-2020 Repertoire Bracket Challenge! Click here to nominate one or more pieces. We have to collect nominations before we can set up the bracket and begin voting. Nominations will be accepted through March 25.
