A b o u t t h e E n s e m b l e
The Westchester Symphonic Winds (WSW) is a 60-piece adult community-based wind and percussion ensemble, originally known as the Hudson Valley Wind Symphony. This year we celebrate our 36th season as the area’s premiere community band. We exist to promote music in our area, instill pride in our nation and heritage, provide opportunities for personal expression and growth within our membership, and nurture the love of music by offering an exceptional musical experience for people of all ages.
Over the years, we have given concerts on behalf of many service and benefit organizations. Our educational outreach program has included our Side-by-Side Concert with the Mahopac Central School District and our 2015-2016 Exchange Program with the Northshore Concert Band of Evanston, Illinois. The Westchester Symphonic Winds made its Lincoln Center debut at Avery Fisher Hall in 2010, performed at the Association of Concert Bands National Conventions in 2012 and 2019, New York State Band Directors Association in 2017, has performed at the Caramoor Festival annually since 2014, and made its Carnegie Hall debut in 2023. WSW was the winner of The American Prize for 2018-2019. The organization is an Ensemble-in-Residence at the historic Tarrytown Music Hall in Tarrytown, New York, and rehearses there on Monday evenings, September through June.
A b o u t t h e M u s i c D i r e c t o r
Curt Ebersole has served as the Conductor and Music Director (John P. Paynter Memorial Chair) of the Westchester Symphonic Winds since 2008, fostering its exponential growth and success over the past sixteen years. He led the Westchester Symphonic Winds in their Carnegie Hall debut in 2023, their Lincoln Center debut in 2010 at Avery Fisher Hall, and in their convention and exchange performances in Chicago, Poughkeepsie, Stamford, and Syracuse, as well as annual sold-out summer festival performances at the Caramoor Center for Music and the Arts (Katonah, NY) since 2014. He retired from Northern Valley Regional High School (Old Tappan, NJ) in 2013 after serving as Director of Instrumental Music for 31 years, where his ensembles were honored with consistent critical accolades and his instrumental Prism Concerts became a local rite of spring. He now serves on the faculty at The Masters School, in Dobbs Ferry, New York, where he teaches String Ensemble, Chamber Music, and Public Speaking. He earned a Bachelor of Music Education degree and a Master of Music in Conducting degree from Northwestern University, where he studied conducting with John P. Paynter and clarinet with Larry Combs, and a Master of Fine Arts in Clarinet Performance from SUNY–Purchase, where he studied with Ben Armato.
​
Ebersole has served as a guest conductor and clinician for numerous county, regional, all-state, university, and adult community ensembles around the world, including multiple performances at Carnegie Hall, as well as Avery Fisher Hall, Symphony Space, University of Georgia, Syracuse University, Hartwick College, Georgia State University, with the US Army Field Band, in addition to performances in Las Vegas, South Korea, and Sydney, Australia. He is the founding coordinator of the Music Educators of Bergen County Wind Conducting Symposium. He has served as a clinician at the Midwest Clinic, Temple University Wind Conducting and Teaching Workshops, Florida Music Educators Association Convention, New York State Band Directors Association, and presented his TED Talk, “Framing Failure,” at TEDxOneonta in 2017. He is a practitioner of Positive Psychology and the Harkness Method. His performance credits encompass solo and ensemble performances as both a clarinetist and basset hornist, and include an appearance with the West Point Band on their recording of the Roy Harris Symphony (2022).
​
Ebersole has earned multiple awards, including the New Jersey Music Educators Association Master Music Teacher Award (2003), New Jersey Governor’s Award in Arts (2003), New Jersey Governor’s Teacher Recognition Award (2009), the Yale University Distinguished Music Educator Award (2011), and the Jane Rechtman Faculty Chair at The Masters School (2019–2023). Ebersole led the Westchester Symphonic Winds to earn a triple play in The American Prize competition, including first place for community wind ensemble, second place as conductor, and third place for American music performance in 2019. He serves as a volunteer tour guide and docent at the Percy Grainger Home & Studio in White Plains, New York. His professional memberships include NAfME, CBDNA, and Pi Kappa Lambda.
​
Ebersole is a native of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, and a current resident of White Plains, New York. In addition to his busy musical life, he enjoys riding America’s fastest and tallest roller coasters.