Although there’s a little precipitation starting now, current forecasts show it turning to snow and ending by 7:00 pm. I think we’re good to go for tonight.
We’ve asked Andre to make sure the heat is up and running in time for the start of rehearsal at 7:30 pm.
Also note — no percussion tonight, due to the sectional. See you all soon!
The holidays seem like a distant memory, because all we can do now is concentrate on keeping wam! I’ve got several updates in this post:
We’re back to work tomorrow night (the rehearsal plan is posted), and we’re watching the weather forecast. Currently, there’s no precipitation in store until about 2 pm Monday (20% chance), rising to 55% chance at 5:00 pm, then receding to 10% at 7 pm, and 15% at 10 pm. I’m hoping (praying, actually) that this will not affect us negatively, and all will be “go” for rehearsal as usual. However, Check your email again tomorrow after 3 pm for an email confirmation from me that all is still a go. If anything happens to force us to make a change after 5 pm, look for a text blast from David that will get to everyone quickly. And if you need to contact David, call or text him separately instead of replying -to the text blast – otherwise your reply goes out to everyone.
Notes from Keith Hodgson
Keith sent on some notes after his first rehearsal with us. Click here to download his notes. Please take a look and mark your parts accordingly. We will rehearse this again on January 15.
We’re all set to host our February soloist, Don Batchelder, for a Master Class on MLK Day, January 15, at 3:00-5:30 pm, before our rehearsal with him that evening. Dave Marchiony has sent out a couple emails asking for volunteers who’d like to play a trumpet solo or excerpt. We really need to finalize that list tomorrow night. Don is also willing to do full brass sectional sectional work (Hello, Mr. Husa!), but again, we need to finalize knowing who to expect tomorrow night. This is a remarkable opportunity — please join us!
Mislav wrote to me this week to inform me of an arts administrative assistant position which has been posted at The Harvey School, where Mislav teaches. Please click here for the formal notice and job description. Talk to Mislav if you have questions.
Björn wrote to me this week to announce the arrival of the Music Hall’s new “baby.” It’s a Steinway D and he is so very excited and proud! We’ll definitely have to make use of this instrument in coming seasons.
In case you’re wondering what the D stands for, here’s the list of abbreviations Steinway uses for their various size grand pianos. I took the factory tour in 2005, and this has stuck with me ever since. Crazy, but true!
S – small (baby grand)
M – medium
L – large
B – big (7 foot grand)
D – damn big! (9 foot grand)
See you Monday!
We will continue to target detail work on the Husa on Monday night. In addition, our guest conductor, Keith Hodgson, will be with us this week to conduct the Gates. Here’s the rehearsal plan.
Marianne reached out to several Czech organizations, and received a reply from the Czech Consulate in New York. They’ve posted our concert on their Facebook page. This is great news! Hopefully we’ll hear from more groups that she contacted as we move forward.
Our Master Class with Dan Batchelder is set for Monday, January 15 at 3:00 pm. We’ll discuss this more on Monday night. We’re looking for commitments from those attending to make sure this is worthwhile for Don.
And I have a surprise for everyone at the end of rehearsal Monday to close out the year. See you then!
And just that quickly, 2017 is almost gone. We have two more rehearsals left, and we need to make the most of both. I appreciate your focused presence during these Husa rehearsals. I recognize it’s tough to concentrate. So thank you once again for taking this on. I’ve detailed the rehearsal plan for Monday, 7:30 pm at TMH.
We can now confirm that our February trumpet soloist, Don Batchelder, principal trumpet with the New York City Opera Orchestra, will present a trumpet master class on Monday, January 15 (MLK Day), from 3:00-5:30 pm on the stage at TMH. Trumpet players are encouraged to attend. We need a couple players to play some solo or excerpt rep, so please consider playing! He is also willing to do some sectional work with the entire section on our current repertoire. The class is open to everyone to listen and observe so please consider attending. I will have more details as we move into the New Year.
Enjoy the weekend. Relieve some of your holiday stress with some practice. 😀
See you Monday!