Eckhaus had assessed her professional potential long ago, while attending a summer flute program at Tanglewood as a teen. Like many musicians, they had put down their instruments for day jobs. The two had taken to commiserating about how much they missed playing and how few opportunities there were to do so. The ensemble was born after Eckhaus bumped into a former NRHS bandmate, Robert LaPorta, on the train. New Rochelle High School’s band program solidified her passion while surreptitiously planting the seeds for what would become Westchester Symphonic Winds. A private teacher helped Eckhaus learn to love the instrument, which gets “much better parts,” than the flute, she says. “A newbie on the piccolo is like a newbie on the violin - quite jarring,” she admits. The busy single mother of two remains dedicated to the ensemble, which performs three concerts each year as the ensemble-in-residence at the Tarrytown Music Hall, plus the always-sold-out Fourth of July celebration at Caramoor.Įckhaus’ musical career began in elementary school in New Rochelle when she picked up the flute and later the piccolo, despite a decided lack of encouragement from those within earshot. ![]() Today, the group - comprising “doctors, lawyers, computer programmers, music educators, and former military” - performs several concerts each year.Ī professional numbers-cruncher by trade - she’s the CFO of janitorial-supply firm Strauss Paper Company in Port Chester - Eckhaus is also the principle piccolo player for the Westchester Symphonic Winds (WSW), a group of 60 amateur musicians she helped found 29 years ago. ![]() Piccolo player and CFO Rachel Eckhaus helped found the Westchester Symphonic Winds 29 years ago. It’s an intimidating piece to be sure - just ask Rachel Eckhaus, who is often called upon to perform it in public, before cheering crowds. Who doesn’t love the rousing piccolo solo in Sousa’s “Stars and Stripes Forever”? Its sheet music reveals a crazy roller coaster of notes - over 122, to be exact.
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