Festival Music (Wind Band)
Festival Music (Wind Band)
Grade 5 Wind Band
A 2-minute fanfare, scored for wind band, written in celebration of the 100th anniversary of the Eastman School of Music. Also available for brass ensemble.
Pricing
Printed Score Only: $25
Printed Score + Printed Parts: $79.99
Printed Score + Digital PDF Parts: $79.99
Details
Grade 5 – Wind Band (also available for brass ensemble here)
Year of Composition: 2022
Length: 2:00
Program Note
Festival Music was written to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Eastman School of Music, which opened its doors in the 1921-22 academic year. The fanfare is inspired by the glorious Eastman Theatre, and more specifically, by a mural titled “Festival Music” by Ezra Winter that is painted on the side of the theatre.
Perhaps the most celebratory mural on the theatre walls, it depicts a scene full of music and fanfare with soaring mountains in the background. One of the most striking features of the mural is a series of three trumpeters playing in the center of the mural, with red flags hanging from their trumpets. These heralding trumpets first drew me to the mural, and so I decided to open the fanfare with just trumpets. In the painting, other brass players and percussionists are seen just beneath the trumpeters, and in the music, these players enter shortly after the trumpets introduce a key motive of the work.
The music is dedicated to the Eastman School of Music – to George Eastman and Ezra Winter and the many individuals that helped in ways large and small to build the school. It is also dedicated to the many faculty and staff who have made it a place where music continues to thrive, and where young people like myself dream of coming and being a part of the historic legacy. Meliora!
A song cycle for soprano and piano of six short pieces, with clever, playful texts by Louisa May Alcott. From the light, dance-like opening to the soft, dreamy lullaby at the close, these songs are organized to depict a carefree summer day.
Grade 4.5
Ancient Light is inspired by the stunning photographs of deep space taken by the James Webb Space Telescope.
Grade 4/5
Le Voleur is a jazzy and exciting piece inspired by the character Arsene Lupin (The Gentleman Burglar), a character created by the writer Maurice Leblanc in 1905.
Grade 5 Wind Band
A 2-minute fanfare, scored for wind band, written in celebration of the 100th anniversary of the Eastman School of Music. Also available for brass ensemble.
Grade 5
A work for large choir and wind ensemble that uses the metaphor of a sunrise to evoke the rise of the American West. Commissioned by the University of Nevada, Reno in celebration of its 150th anniversary.
Grade 5
Lamentation for Euphonium and Wind Ensemble is a reflective lament written in memory of euphoniumist Isaiah Ray.
Grade 5
A 2-minute brass fanfare written in celebration of the 100th anniversary of the Eastman School of Music.
Grade 4/5
Entrata is a work inspired by Gary Green’s photograph “Savannah Church Entrance 2011” and it incorporates music by the English renaissance composer Thomas Tallis.
Grade 5
A 2-minute fanfare that includes a musical canon, this work is available for wind band, orchestra, string orchestra, or flexible instrumentation.
Grade 5
Lauda, Latin for “praise” is a two movement work for wind ensemble. The overall structure of the work can be understood somewhat loosely as a prelude and fugue. Both movements explore various uses of counterpoint and contrapuntal devices which have fascinated me since I first encountered them in works of Bach and others.
Grade 5
When I was a kid, we’d often travel a few hours north to Vermont for Labor Day, to spend the final days of summer with my extended family. While there, we’d pile in the car to spend a day at the Vermont State Fair. The fair was an exciting, vibrant place, with rides and games, animals, fried dough, and horse racing. This piece captures the sights, sounds, and excitement of a day at the fair.
Also available for orchestra.
This piece is based on one of my favorite sonorities – the major 7th chord. Throughout the piece, I use different voicings of the chord to create harmonies and textures that are sometimes stark, and other times beautiful, reflecting the varying landscapes of winter. The music near the end of the piece moves towards spring, inspired by the simple bird call of the Black-capped Chickadee.
Grade 5
The title of this work is inspired by a quote by Ansel Adams, which seems to perfectly sum up the vision and inspiration for this project: “The whole world is, to me, very much ‘alive’ — all the little growing things, even the rocks. I can’t look at a swell bit of grass and earth, for instance, without feeling the essential life — the things going on within them. The same goes for a mountain, or a bit of the ocean, or a magnificent piece of old wood.”
Grade 5
Available as a collection of three arrangements, or individually: Fugue No. 2, No. 16, and No. 23, all from The Well-Tempered Clavier, book 1. Scored for 4/5-part flexible instrumentation plus optional timpani that can be adapted for many combinations of wind, string, and percussion instruments.
Grade 4.5/5
Green Diamond, the sequel to Magnolia Star, is a fun and energetic piece for wind band (Grade 4.5/5) based on the blues scale and inspired by the American railroad.
Grade 5
This work is about life and living, new experiences (musical or otherwise) that make and define us, and those who have influenced us for the better. Journeys was commissioned by the Tennessee Music Education Association (TMEA) and Eastman Chemical Company for the 2014 TMEA 11-12 All-State Band.
Grade 5
Magnolia Star is a sparkling, energetic piece for wind band (Grade 5) based on the blues scale and inspired by the American railroad.