After much ado with snow, cancellations, and postponements, we are thrilled to be moving forward with our planned concert with the Westchester Symphonic Winds tomorrow, Sunday, February 9 at 3:00 pm. Sub-titled, “Ideas, Images and Textures” this concert will feature Arutiunian’s Trumpet Concerto, performed by SSgt. Christopher Venditti , guest conductor Amy Wilcox leading the ensemble through Hackett’s Passacaglia, Matthew Kowalski, Assistant Conductor, conducting American Elegy by Frank Ticheli, and a stunning rendition of Edward Elgar’s Enigma Variations, including the emotion packed “Nimrod“. The concert will also feature Olympiada a fanfare acknowledging the opening of the 2014 olympics as well as See Rock City by Karrick and Castle Gap March by Clifton Williams. If you live in the area, tickets are $20 for adults, $15 for seniors and students, and free for children under 10; and may be obtained through the Music Hall, 877-840-0457 or online at www.tarrytownmusichall.org. I hope to see you there!
You may have heard about my close encounter with a black squirrel in our condominium for New Year’s Eve dinner. Rather than rewriting the story, here’s what I wrote on my Facebook page:
So this was my New Year’s Eve from HELL. You just can’t make up this stuff.
6 friends were invited for dinner. I ordered a prime rib from Fairway, and put the box (see photo) on the deck to keep it all chilled. At 5:30 I brought it in, and I when I picked it up, it felt like something shifted inside, like something MOVED. Before I could think, I set it down on the living room floor, and as I did I felt something FURRY touch my hand, inside the lift hole. As I put it on the floor a BLACK SQUIRREL jumped out through that tiny hole, and started running around through the condo! The cats, Darren and Jezebel, started chasing it. It crawled up/down the curtains, jumped off, ran under the sofa, crossed to the den, ran under the media center, and back out again. It was scared and completely crazed. I grabbed the cats and locked them in the bedroom, fearing they might be bitten. After about 5 minutes, there was no more scurrying sound, and it seemed like it might have run back out the open deck door without me seeing it. I listened and looked and poked around, but no squirrel. I resumed prepping dinner, but soon heard scratch-scratch-scratch, and located the squirrel INSIDE the den sleeper loveseat. It seemed to be inside, but when I opened the bed, nothing ran out. The scratching continued from inside the back of the loveseat, then slowed and stopped. It really seemed like it might have suffocated or impaled itself on a spring. I lifted and banged the loveseat, but got no reaction. I resigned myself to pulling the loveseat outside to remove the dead squirrel tomorrow. I finished prepping and my guests enjoyed dinner; what else was I gonna do? At 11:00 pm we sat down in the living room to enjoy drinks and await the ball drop — when suddenly, my friend Paul yelled, “There’s the squirrel, behind the couch!” What ensued were 5 minutes of complete mayhem — the ladies pulling back and keeping their distance, while Paul and I used a bathtowel, mop handle, and doormat to try to corral the squirrel and push it toward the open deck door. Finally, the little guy ran out the door, and we slammed it shut. Somehow through the entire trauma I managed to avoid screaming like a little girl.
Moral of the story: Never store food outside without completely sealing all openings completely shut!!!!
And with that, Happy 2014 to all!
Curt & Mr. Squirrel
I can always count on the members of WSW to support me when these crazy things happen to me. When I arrived at rehearsal on January 6, I found Mr. Squirrel waiting for me.
They followed through for my birthday as well. In addition to a beautiful double-chocolate birthday sheet cake (chocolate! yes, they know me well), I was also given a gift bag with over 40 birthday cards. It was truly amazing. I went through them all and came up with my Top 10 — if you’d like to see them, please click here. And yes, there’s a card with a squirrel.
January 2014 Teaching Music, center spread
Lastly, WSW was fortunate enough to be featured in the January issue of Teaching Music, the national magazine of the National Association for Music Education (NAfME, formerly MENC). The article, “Double Lives,” focused on the multiple identities many music educators live day to day — teacher, performer, manager, administrator. Both Lois Hicks-Wozniak and I were interviewed for the article. This wonderful photo of Lois, our alto saxophone soloist last May, with me and WSW at the warm-up sound check rehearsal, was taken by Dave Sanders, son-in-law of Dan Salvi, WSW clarinetist. Dave’s photos have appeared in The New York Times and other highly regarded publications. We’re grateful to Dave and to NAfME for the exposure.
If you haven’t heard, WSW is the featured ensemble for the Fourth of July concert at the Caramoor Center for Music & the Arts in Katonah. This local summer festival has a world-class reputation, and we are thrilled to be sharing the season with such notables as Joshua Bell.
I hope everyone has enjoyed January 2014, with its snow, sleet, and ice. Like just about everyone else, I’m ready to move on. Bring on Spring! In the meantime, enjoy the rest of this year’s Winter, and I hope to see many of you at tomorrow’s WSW concert.
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