I hope you are all doing well and enjoying this beautiful weather! Please take a look at the rehearsal notes and schedule below. This rehearsal on 5/19 will be at TCNJ.

Looking forward to seeing you all this Saturday……..

Folk Dances/Postcard Todd EWS Rehearsal Notes 512

Suite Francaise suite frances 5-12

SCHEDULE

9:00 – 9:45 – SECTIONALS on Suite Francaise 

                          Woodwinds with Adam — Brass and Percussion with Todd

9:50 – 10:20  FULL ENSEMBLE – Suite Francaise

10:20 – 10:30 - BREAK

10:30 – 11:10 – Postcard

11:10 – 11:25 – Folk Dances 

11:25 – 11:45 – Dance Diabolique

11:45 – 12:00 – Funiculi Funicula

Thanks,

Todd and Adam

First off, I would like to congratulate each and every one of you on the finest concert of our season!!!! Your Virtuosity concert was a true testament to the growth of EWS in a very short amount of time. In addition to the sold out audience, we have received the largest number of responses from our audience — all incredibly positive and complimentary to your performance. People were blown away and many commented that they have never heard the group sound as it did this past concert. We have much to look forward to and this past concert is proof that we are moving in a direction that will realize our goal of becoming one of the leading wind bands in the country.

Joe Alessi was incredibly pleased with the whole experience. Not only did he stay and share many positive comments about the concert at the reception, he also emailed me and thanked us for having him in. He said he “had a wonderful time”. He loved the arrangement of Stardust so much he asked if he could have it and he told me he thought the Harvest Concerto was “spot on”. 

CONGRATULATIONS and THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

LOOKING AHEAD…………………….

Musically……

• I am very pleased with the refinement of our ensemble sound. There is much more consistency and tuning has improved quite a bit. While these are constant items that must be addressed each and every time we meet, I am pleased to say that we have made GREAT strides in the past 6 months in improving these areas. Keep Going!!!!!!!!!!!!
• Overall rhythmic accuracy and  individual tempo control has improved greatly. Again keep striving for excellence!!!!

The next step…….. After listening to our concert recording I feel the following items are what we need to improve upon as we get ready for our final concert of the season…

• Dynamic Contrast — We play everything in the mezzo forte – forte range. We need to establish much more contrast especially on the piano side of the dynamic spectrum.
• Heaviness — We tend to play everything quite heavy and thick……We must work to establish a much lighter articulation when called for and be able to establish clear and transparent balance at all times. Much of the time our sound becomes muddled and thick rather than clear and concise. This is something we can focus on right away.

EWSYWB

Adam has been hard at work to get the EWS Youth Wind Band off the ground. Letters have gone out to over 100 directors and student responses are already flying in. Many of you know that there are also two youth wind bands forming in Philadelphia. While this is wonderful for the growth of wind bands in our area, it means we must push to recruit students for the EWS Youth Band. In addition to it being a crucial part of establishing depth for EWS, it is also critical to raising funds that will help offset the costs of our recording and Carnegie concert next season. PLEASE PASS THE WORLD TO ALL YOU KNOW!!!!!!!!!!!!

The EWSYWB is open by audition to students Grade 9 – College.

PD CERTIFICATES

Professional Development Certificates have been completed for our three concerts that have concluded so far. Please check the members only section for posting within the next 48 hours.

RECORDING OF CONCERT

Many of you have asked if you could hear the recording of the concert. YES!!!!!! I will be posting clips in the member’s only section this week. Not only is great for you to hear your accomplishments, it’s a PERFECT way for us all to hear what we can improve on.

SATURDAY’S REHEARSAL

A friendly reminder………………..This Saturday’s rehearsal will be at Council Rock HS North located at 62 Swamp Road  Newtown, PA 18940

This rehearsal will serve as primarily a reading rehearsal — Please use the posted recordings on the Member’s Only Section as a reference in your preparations.

REHEARSAL – 5/12/12

9:00 – 9:15 – Folk Dances

9:15 – 9:55 – Postcard

9:55 – 10:15 – Funniculi Funnicula

10:15 – 10:30 – Danse Diabolique

10:30 – 10:40 – BREAK

10:40 – 11:30 – Suite Francasie

11:30 – 12:00 – Strauss Serenade for 13 Winds

See you Saturday!

T

Our final rehearsal for the upcoming concert with Joe Alessi will be this coming Saturday.

PLEASE PASS THE WORD SO WE CAN PACK THE HOUSE AND HAVE A SELL OUT CONCERT!!!!!!

Please remember the rehearsal will be at COUNCIL ROCK HS.

Our rehearsal will focus mainly on balancing the ensemble to perform in the TCNJ concert hall and cleaning up the final details that need attention.

9:00 – 9:15 – Comrades of the Legion

9:15 – 9:35 – Prokofiev March

9:35 – 10:05 – Molly on the Shore

10:05 – 10:20 – Holiday for Trombones

10:20 – 10:30 – BREAK

10:30 – 10:55 – Mendelssohn Overture

10:55 – 11:00 – Re-Set for Harvest Concerto

11:00 – 11:30 – Harvest Concerto – Sectionals

• Winds will move to separate room
• Percussion will remain in band room

11:30 – 12:00 – Harvest Concerto – FULL ENSEMBLE

• Winds will move back to band room

Thank you very much for an excellent rehearsal this past Saturday. I hope you were inspired by hearing  Joe perform.  Adam and I are incredibly excited and confident that this will be an unbelievable concert. Quite honestly, it stands to set a new milestone for EWS!!!!!  We still have much work to do and the good news is…………..we have the time to do it!

Please read all the information carefully below and see you Saturday!
Thanks,
T

SCHEDULE FOR 4/21/12

9:00 – 10:20        Harvest Concerto (Winds, Percussion, and Bass Only)

10:20 – 10:30      BREAK

10:30 – 11:00      Mendelssohn Overture

11:00 – 11:30      Molly on the Shore

11:30 – 11:45      Holiday for Trombones and Stardust

11:45 – 11:55      BREAK / Re-Set

11:55 – 1:00        Harvest Concerto (Full Ensemble and Soloist)

2:00 – 3:30          FREE MASTER CLASS WITH JOE ALESSI

REHEARSAL NOTES……………………..

HOLIDAY FOR TROMBONES

• The overall feeling will be “In one”
• Drum Set must play very straight and dry (mostly BD/SD as written)
• All stingers should be played as an accented quarter note
• Euphoniums – Please Tacet Meas. 174 – 184
• Last note should have punch to it

Please download this document for notes on the Harvest Concerto……………

Harvest Concerto notes 42112

I hope you all had a wonderful holiday with family and friends. Please see the schedule below for this Saturday’s rehearsal……………….Joe Alessi will be with us!!! Rehearsal will be in the band room at TCNJ — not the concert hall.

9:00-10:00 – Rehearsal without Joe Alessi (Prokofiev, Sousa, Holiday for Trombones, Stardust)

10:00-10:30 – Rehearsal with Joe Alessi (Holiday for Trombones & Stardust)

10:30-10:45- BREAK / Re-set for the Harvest Concerto

10:45-12:00 – Rehearsal with Joe Alessi – Harvest Concerto

REHEARSAL NOTES………

For Holiday for Trombones – Please use the recording I have posted as a model for tempo. It is Joe playing on that recording and he would like to go that fast. The tempo is in the ballpark of Half note = 176.

TOUGH TO SAY BUT I MUST…………………….

Let me first say, I know it is difficult to avoid conflicts for many of our members and I appreciate all you do and give up to be in this group playing for free.  However, in order for us to continue to provide you with the  best possible experiences and quality musical performance opportunities, you simply must be at rehearsal or send a qualified substitute in your absence. In the event of emergencies and other unforeseen circumstances please follow the following protocol……

1. Contact our personnel manager – Jules — NOT your section leader

2. If you have the means to do so — send a sub.

3. If you are unable to provide a sub, please provide Jules with as much notice as you can so she can take care of getting a sub for you.

If we are to continue having multiple late changes to attendance for numerous members, it will be more and more difficult for me to justify bringing in top notch soloists, conductor’s, etc. It will also be difficult to program challenging music that will push the group’s artistry…………….without people in the seats there is no way for us to move forward. Over the past year, an incredible amount of time has been invested in setting up a system (noted above) that avoids this kind of situation. I appreciate your understanding and profesionalism in regard to this matter.

See you Saturday!

T

Please download the following  documents for rehearsal notes…………

Mendelssohn Rehearsal Notes

Molly on the Shore 3-24

HARVEST CONCERTO – Rehearsal Notes

Thanks,
Todd and Adam

Thank you all for a great first rehearsal this past week!  Things went very well and we are on our way to an incredible concert next month.

A few reminders……….

• Please be on time for downbeat.
• To speed up the music making process………..please be prepared with the technical parts of your music (especially Molly on the Shore, Mendelssohn Overture, and Harvest Concerto)
• Please be reminded that this Saturday’s rehearsal will be at MONTGOMERY HS.
  

Adam has warned us that just typing Montgomery HS into a GPS sometimes sends people to the old HS incorrectly. Please enter the address listed above into your GPS.

The following pieces need the most attention — Please take a look at and be prepared with your parts on……..

• Molly on the Shore
• Mendelssohn Overture  — Opening 3/4 Section
• Harvest Concerto

The music has arrived for Stardust and Holiday for Trombones — YOU WILL RECEIVE THIS MUSIC AT REHEARSAL ON SATURDAY. It will not be uploaded prior to this weekend.

Below is the rehearsal schedule for this Saturday 3/31.

9:00-9:15 – Stardust

9:15-9:30 – Holiday for Trombones

9:30-10:00 -  Molly on the Shore

10:00-10:20 – Mendelssohn Overture

10:20-10:30 – BREAK

10:30-12:00 – Harvest Concerto w/Todd

Molly on the Shore &  Mendelssohn w/Adam

Thanks and have a great week!

T

Welcome Back!

Here is the rehearsal schedule for our first session on the Virtuosity concert. Please be prepared with your music as this program is exceptionally challenging for many and we only have two rehearsals before Joe Alessi arrives to rehearse with us.

Please remember this Saturday’s rehearsal is at COUNCIL ROCK HS NORTH

SATURDAY 3/24/12

We will start in full ensemble and work on the following……………

9:00-9:15 – Comrades of the Legion

9:15-9:35 – Prokofiev March

9:35-10:05 – Mendelssohn Overture

10:05-10:15- BREAK

After Break we will move into split sessions as follows………………………

10:15-12:00

Harvest Concerto with Todd

Molly on the Shore/Overture/March with Adam

*Please note that we will not rehearse Holiday for Trombones or Stardust at this rehearsal. 

**Those in Adam’s 10:15-12:00 rehearsal block may be done earlier than 12:00
Thanks and see you all Saturday morning!
T