Our goal this week is to stay on track so I can cancel rehearsal on Columbus Day, October 8! Let’s have great preparation and focus for rehearsal Monday to make this happen. Our rehearsal plan is posted. I’ll make the final decision at the end of rehearsal Monday night.

Here’s the news for this week:

• Our ticket information for November 11 will be published on the TMH website this weekend, and we’ll be featured in their email blast on Tuesday.
• We are still looking for a couple volunteers to help assist with the Les Miz auditions on Sunday afternoon, October 28. Speak to or email David. Please recommend the competition to all Broadway singers you know who are still singing only in the shower. Recommend the Press Release and FAQ’s (lots of info therein), and send them on to David to register to audition.
  
• If you played for The Masters School Convocation in the past, and are wondering why you’ve heard nothing from me this year, it’s because the medley event (combined orchestra and Glee Club medley) has been moved to Saturday, May 18. Yes, the weekend after our May concert with the Les Miz medley. I’ll be recruiting players later on in the year.
• If I seem particularly jumpy or sleepy or over-caffeinated on Monday night, it’s because I’m in the final throes of the annual Private Lessons scheduling project. Please be patient with me if I seem dazed and confused.
• I want to recommend the Everything Band podcast once again. I listened to the interview with Emily Threinen this week. Her wisdom is so refreshing. Personally, I’m finding listening to the voices of Mark Scatterday and Frank Ticheli and Emily to be so much more personal than reading an article by them in a journal. Maybe that’s just me.
  And speaking of listening in the car, attention all Apple geeks: If you haven’t already noticed, Waze is now working through your iPhone in Apple Carplay. Just sayin’.

See you Monday evening!

This past week, we sent out a press release advertising our auditions on October 28 for the Les Misérables medley on the Spring concert. Click here to download a copy of the release. Please share this information with any qualified adult soloists who might like to consider auditioning. Send them on to David to schedule an audition time or to get more information. We’re in the process of proofing a Q&A Fact Sheet that will contain all relevant information for anyone who would like to know more. Once proofed, I’ll be able to share that link with you as well.

Please remember Marge’s announcement about dues. Bring in your dues payments ($100 per member per year), payable to WSW, at the first opportunity, and give them to Marge. She would like to finish the dues collection process by October 15.

If you didn’t happen to pick up brochures or bookmarks last week, you have the opportunity to do so again on Monday.

The rehearsal plan is posted. Enjoy the rest of the weekend, see you Monday!

Site and date confirmed

I have secured permission from The Masters School to use their facilities for our Les Miz vocal soloist competition auditions on Sunday, October 28. We have use of the Fonseca Center Recital Hall from 12:00-5:00 pm, and we intend to schedule auditions from 1:00-4:00 pm. This gives us a bit of a buffer at the the beginning and end of the afternoon.

We need two volunteers to assist us: one to sit at the entrance to the Fonseca Center and open the door to allow auditionees to enter, and one to sit on the staircase and direct them to the Recital Hall one floor up. Please email me or speak to me Monday night if you are interested and willing. 

I’m in the process of finalizing a press release, now that we have an audition location, and will share it asap. In the meantime, please direct any adult vocalists who are interested to send an email of interest to personnel @ westchestersymphonicwinds.org. These emails will be redirected to David, who will put our audition schedule together. 

Monday’s rehearsal

We start to rehearse in earnest on Monday evening. The rehearsal plan is posted. 

It’s my hope to gather momentum early in this cycle, so that I can consider cancelling the rehearsal on Columbus Day, October 8. I always like to give time back to the group when possible. Let’s work together to make that goal a reality!

See you Monday.

Welcome back! Lots of preparation has gone into getting the new season off to a great start. Now all we need is you, and your dedicated musicianship to excite our audiences in the new decade.

As announced earlier, we have our first rehearsal this coming Monday, September 10, starting at 7:30 pm at TMH. You can find the approved rehearsal schedule here. You can review the 2018-2019 season rep here. And you can always see the next rehearsal plan on the front page of this site. 

ACB Convention

We’ll start on Monday with announcements, a recap of the performance information for the ACB Convention next April, and then ask everyone to finalize commitments for both the ACB dress rehearsal on Wednesday, April 24 (7:30 pm) and ACB performance on Saturday, April 27 (call TBA, concert at 4:00 pm). The convention is being held at the Woodcliff Lake Hilton, Woodcliff Lake, NJ (about 25 minutes from Tarrytown). Please review those dates in your personal/work calendars so you can be prepared with answers when we pass around a commitment sheet in each section.

I’d like to thank Nancy Mattson for all her work to prepare our Fall folders; David Church for his assistance with personnel and this year’s auditions, and Marge Hone for helping us with the arrangements to hold our annual auditions once again at the Irvington Presbyterian Church.

We are aware that Rosh Hashanah begins at sundown on Sunday. If you are celebrating the second night of the holiday and wish to be excused from the rehearsal on Monday, please contact David Church.

Podcasts of note

I’ve recently become obsessed with podcasts, since I finally figured out how to manage them and sync them in the car. I’ve been listening to CoasterRadio.com and TED Talks Daily, but have also discovered two band podcasts you might find interesting:

Everything Band – Mark J. Connor. Mark has compiled a significant collection of interviews with major composers, conductors, and publishing industry figures. I especially enjoyed the interviews with Michael Markowski, Emily Threinen, Jack Stamp, and Gerard Schwarz — and that’s just the beginning.

Winds and Rhythm – Doug Brown. These episodes include excerpts from significant band recordings, conducted by the legends of our time. The liability is that I can’t seem to pull its content into my podcast player (Overcast). If anyone can explain this to me, please share.

London Symphony Orchestra

On Tuesday, April 16, the London Symphony Orchestra is performing at the Palace Theatre in Stamford. Yes, this is the theater in which we played in 2016. Ticket go on sale to the general public on October 15. Mark your calendars — this is a major event.  (Thank you, Jim Savage, for sharing this with me.) 

Enjoy the weekend

See you on Monday evening at TMH!