BMS BANDS & WBSD ELEMENTARY BAND

2016 SPRING CONCERT

FEATURING WORLD PREMIERE OF JON ANDERSON’S

RUSH

ENHANCED PROGRAM Monday, June 13, 2016

7:00 PM Brownstown Middle School Gymnasium

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WELCOME. We are so happy that you can join us tonight, as we celebrate the end of the school year in

tremendous fashion - with performances by our WBSD 5th Grade Band as well as the BMS

Beginning Band, 6th Grade Band, and 7th Grade Band. The highlight of the evening is the

world premiere of Jon Anderson’s “RUSH,” - the first work ever commissioned by and for a

Downriver middle school. Our selections will span from early 1800’s to 2015, and from

classical to traditional and folk to pop. The performance of our students will also reflect the

variety of eras and styles through the use of a variety of instruments, including electronic

media and non-traditional instruments.

We are pleased to have a few honored guests with us this evening. Sharing the podium with

me will be Ms. Ashley Hagadon and Mr. Nathanael Zuellig. These two fine young music

educators spent a portion of the school year with us as student teachers, and it is my honor

to welcome them to the stage. We are also very pleased to have Dr. Jonathan Anderson

joining us tonight for the world premiere of his amazing work, “RUSH.” There will be more

about “RUSH” later in this program.

Thanks to the many people and organizations that made the RUSH project possible,

including: The Michigan Council for the Arts and Cultural Affairs and their regranting

organization The City of Detroit Recreation Department, The Woodhaven-Brownstown

Education Foundation, The Woodhaven Band Boosters, and the families of our BMS Bands.

Enjoy The Show!

Mr. Mobley

BMS Band Director

“ Music can name the unnameable and communicate the unknowable.

- Leonard Bernstein

”

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PROGRAM

WBSD Elementary Band Aura Lee ……………………………………… G. Poulton & W. Fosdick; arranged by M. Sweeney

When The Saints Go Marching In ………………………… Traditional; arranged by M. Sweeney

Ode To Joy ………………………………………………... L. Beethoven; arranged by M. Sweeney

Fanfare and March ……………………………………………………………………… M. Sweeney

Hard Rock Blues …………………………………………………………………………. M. Sweeney

BMS Beginning Band Starsplitter Fanfare ……………………………………………………………………... B. Balmages

Gentle Winds ………………………………………………………………………………….. T. Loest

Tambora …………………………………………………………………………………….. W. Owens

BMS Sixth Grade Band African Folk Trilogy ……………………………………………………………………….. A. McGinty

Eventide ………………………………………………………………………………….. M. Conaway

When Robots Rule The World ………………………………………………………………. T. Loest

BMS Seventh Grade Band Electricity (Race Around The Circuit) ………………………………………………..… B. Balmages

There Will Come Soft Rains …………………………………………………………....… R. Sheldon

RUSH …………………………………………………………………………………….… J. Anderson

The Rush of Human Activity (of the Human Condition)

The Rush of Machine and Technology

The Rush of Nature

World Premiere

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WHAT TO LISTEN FOR TONIGHT Here are some unique instruments, alternative techniques and interesting musical scoring

to pay close attention to as you listen to our performance this evening:

For our WBSD ELEMENTARY BAND, it’s really all about progression. If you imagine what your

child was able to accomplish after their first eighteen lessons (short eight measure tunes, all

in unison), we will be taking you through their development from that point to now. Their

first piece, Aura Lee, represents their first foray into two-part harmony. Both When The Saints Go Marching In and Ode To Joy show their progress from two-part harmony into true polyphony. Fanfare And March is their first piece of sheet music - a major accomplishment for them, and

very exciting as well. And, this one piece happens to contain almost as many measures as

all of the selections they played in their Winter Recital. Hard Rock Blues - well you can’t blame

them for wanting to have a little fun!

In Gentle Winds, the BMS BEGINNING BAND uses a special non-traditional technique to create the

sound of a soft breeze by blowing through instruments while others say “shh.” Also used is

a tubular wind chime, like one you might find in your own garden, to add to the effect. In

Tambora, the band will stomp and clap, as well as incorporate the djembe - a hand drum from

the nation of Senegal - to add to the sonic painting of an erupting volcano.

Our SIXTH GRADE BAND will also use stomping and djembe, as well as other native African

instruments, as they recreate the sounds of children singing native songs in African Folk Trilogy. Listen for the ostinato in the woodwinds, as they mimic the sound of a crib mobile in

Eventide. There’s the sound of an electric drill, wind chimes, a synthesizer, and a talking robot

(with an eerily familiar voice) in When Robots Rule The World.

The SEVENTH GRADE BAND incorporates the use of a technique called a water gong to suggest

the sound of machinery shutting down in a blackout in Electricity. A rain stick and wind

chimes help create the sound of wind blowing through the trees in There Will Come Soft Rains. Also listen for the bells and claves acting as a ticking clock. But for whom does the clock

tick? Listen carefully to the electronic environment that the band performs with in RUSH. You

may hear running, band instruments, water flowing, gusts of wind, your child saying “Rush,”

a Mustang GT350R, and much more.

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BAND PERSONNEL BMS SEVENTH GRADE BAND FLUTE CLARINET (con’t.) TENOR SAXOPHONE TRUMPET (con’t.) BARITONE Melanie Charron Emily Weimer* William Berry Joseph Vance Seth Quaigg* Jesse Laginess Hayden Johnson* Katey Williamson* Kevin Walters Amaris Moore* BASS CLARINET Briana Wright Isabella Spurr Angelyn Lapointe BARITONE SAXOPHONE TUBA Tom Totte* Kaylee Alesescu* FRENCH HORN Alexander Voltzikos* ALTO SAXOPHONE Conner Scott CLARINET Joseph Brothers TRUMPET Brock West* PERCUSSION Abigail Crispell* Gavin Davis Jessica Carlone Olivia Bricker* Nathan Duchene John Hakanson* Matthew King TROMBONE John Durocher Sierra Felske Alyssa Kuehnlein* Caleb Kramer* Chase Garcia Grace Fenech Malina Rowe* Emily Lloyd Crystal Magusin Joseph Henegar* Kate Robinette* Alyssa Shivel Mikayla O’Connor Andrew Pouliot* Megan Larabell* Steven Victor Imani Smith Daniel Sheldon* Joshua Primeau* Andrew O’Such Elizabeth Solomon* Ethan Williams* Nyla Simmons Becca Thacker Kelley Williamson*

BMS SIXTH GRADE BAND FLUTE CLARINET (con’t.) ALTO SAXOPHONE TRUMPET (con’t.) BARITONE Sean Doran* Allison Bellor Ryan Bolduc Alex Korte Paigelynn Pattenaude Zona Niebrzydowski Emily Briggs John Horvath Nathan Kriebel* Infinity Variot Victoria Dodd Peighton Lloyd* Andrew Piontek PERCUSSION Fiona Villarin Kayla Hill Javier Caldwell* Abigail Kramer* TRUMPET TROMBONE Kody Combs CLARINET Kennedy O’Rourke* Miranda Barden Joseph Filek Jonathon Michalski* Piper Barnhart Nicole Parent Sullivan Briscoe* Justis Garber Draven Whitaker* Jordan Bechtol* Isabella Richley Emma Caldwell Aliyah Jackson Dylan Williams Alyssa Beckon Briana Vojinov Joshua Ferguson Austin Rhines Joslyn Harrison Andrew Whitman

BMS BEGINNING BAND

FLUTE CLARINET ALTO SAX (con’t.) TRUMPET BARITONE Emily Garrison Anaya Gonzalez Xavier Hinds Tyzedd Bowles Corey Perry

Kylee Higby Morgan Walter* Sean O’Neal Talexandre Schrock

Kameron Hudson PERCUSSION

Kaylee Morris ALTO SAXOPHONE TENOR SAXOPHONE TROMBONE Mandy Chen Lorenzo Cerasuolo Darren Smith Cooper Eckert Jamie Sullivan Steven Cook Bryan Wilson

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WBSD ELEMENTARY BAND FLUTE CLARINET SAXOPHONE TRUMPET (con’t.) TROMBONE Riley Grendys Paige Adamisin Sarah Carroll Jacob Ford Keegon Coleman Julia Noal Madison Brown Julia Downey Trevor Johnson Connor Doederlein Ethan Schmidt Montez Cole Joshua Durocher Taylor Long Noah McKenzie Abby Solomon Jillian Courteau Emma Hall Joseph Masters Dylan Whitacre Alondra Villanueva Katie Dietrich Lauren Heard Ian McIntyre Rozelle Yost Rachel Weimer Eva Filippi Savannah Hollis Jaya Meeks Kailey Hodge Devin Matthies Ethan O'Neill BARITONE Merric Justian Jacob Navarro Isaac Perez Andrew Matzo Shannon Lehane Alexander Sanchez Natalia Perez Summer Swisher Kailey Miller Matthew Sterbenz Joseph Sagert Bethany Podlewski Matthew Sanchez PERCUSSION Jane Rennie TRUMPET Jonathan Sarkissian Brett Allie Trevor Smith Ibrahim Amine Emma Scroggie Cara Creutz Landon Stover Aiden Baron Olivia Smith Tyler Dominick Christian Campbell Dylan Solano Sean Hodge Elizabeth Carr Lance Sterbenz Ian Wolney Mariah Cole Antonio Vega Alaina Craig Elina Villemure Garrett Crosson

* - Denotes Member of the BMS Jazz Band - The Jazz Warriors Apologies for any misspelled or omitted names. If you would like a corrected program, please just email me and I will send one to you with the correction.

The RUSH commissioning project was made possible in part with grants from the following:

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PROGRAM NOTES

Compositions

Aura Lee Written in 1861, Aura Lee is a Civil War era sentimental ballad with the highly traditional

theme of a beautiful young woman with shining hair.

They called the song Aura Lee and it was published and copyrighted in Cincinnati in 1861:

“As the blackbird in the spring, 'Neath the willow tree Sat and pip'd I heard him sing Sing-ing

Aura Lee. Aura Lee! Aura Lee!Maid of golden hair; Sunshine came along with thee, And

swallows in the air.”

Although Aura Lee was successful as a minstrel song, it gained unexpected popularity with

the trainee soldiers at West Point, where it quickly became a graduating class song and

gained new words (by LW Becklaw), soon becoming known as Army Blue. The song was also

known later as The Violet and The Girl With the Golden Hair.

After the war, Aura Lee was taken up by barbershop quartets and recorded by many artists.

In 1956, the piece gained an international audience, when Elvis Presley and Vera Watson

rewrote the lyrics, and it became the title song for the movie Love Me Tender .

(adapted from May 2016 edition of the Telegraph)

Youtube recording of Aura Lee

Youtube recording of Love Me Tender

When The Saints Go Marching In

Arguably one of the most catchiest and well-known pieces in gospel history, “When The

Saints Go Marching In” is an example of a song that has penetrated many genres across the

musical spectrum.

The exact history of the song has not been pinpointed, but this traditionally Christian hymn

has wrongly been attributed to lyricist Katharine Purvis and musician James Milton Black in

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1896. Purvis and Black had composed a song similarly titled “When The Saints Are Marching

In,” a soulful piece.

Traditionally this song has been used in many funeral marches, with a prominent place

within jazz funerals in New Orleans, Louisiana. This popularity, as well as the well-known

version released by jazz musician Louis Armstrong released in the 1930s, helped the song

soar in prominence within the pop music world and turned it into a jazz standard.

(adapted from mysendoff.com)

Youtube recording of When The Saints, as performed by Louis Armstrong

Ode To Joy This is the theme from the final movement of Beethoven's Ninth and last Symphony. The

German composer was increasingly aware of his declining health and spent seven years

working on this symphony, starting the work in 1818 and finishing early in 1824. The

symphony is one of the best known works of the Western classical repertoire and is

considered one of Beethoven's masterpieces.

At the time it was a novel idea to use a chorus and solo voices in a symphony, which is why

it's also called the "Choral" symphony. Beethoven, in fact, had serious misgivings about

portraying the music's message with actual words. Even after the premiere, he apparently

came very close to replacing all the vocal lines with instrumental ones.

The words, which are sung by four vocal soloists and a chorus, emanate a strong belief in

mankind. They were taken from a poem written by German writer Friedrich Schiller in 1785

and revised in 1803, with additions made by Beethoven.

The Ninth Symphony was premiered on May 7, 1824 in the Kärntnertortheater in Vienna.

There had been only two full rehearsals and the performance was rather scrappy. Despite

this, the premiere was deemed a great success.

Beethoven was completely deaf when he embarked on this masterpiece, and it's a tragedy

that he never heard a single note of it except inside his head. At the end of the symphony's

first performance the German composer, who had been directing the piece and was

consequently facing the orchestra, had to be turned around by the contralto Caroline Unger

so that he could see the audience's ecstatic reaction. Beethoven had been unaware of the

tumultuous roars of applause behind him.

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(Adapted from songfacts.com)

Youtube recording of Ode to Joy

Starsplitter Fanfare As its name implies, Starsplitter Fanfare is a spirited and powerful work that is inspired by

the phenomenon known as a supernova. These stellar explosions can be extremely bright

and can actually cause a burst of radiation that outshines an entire galaxy for a few weeks or

months before fading. In addition, they can radiate as much energy as the sun would over

its entire lifespan. It is estimated that these supernovae occur approximately one every 50

years in a galaxy the size of the Milky Way. In addition to the amazing explosion, the

resulting shock waves can trigger the formation of new stars. The amazing concept that

such an incredible explosion can cause new formations in the sky underscores the energy of

this entire work.

(Written by the composer)

Youtube video animation of a supernova explosion, provided by the ESA

Gentle Winds Gentle Winds is an expressive work with a little title that can be understood in two ways.

While the title refers to the lyrical playing of wind instruments, it also refers to a soft, moving

breeze. Although the piece is constructed from the first six notes that band students learn

to play, it is full of contemporary harmonies and intricate textures.

(Written by the composer)

Tambora Mount Tambora is an active volcano in the island of Sumbawa, Indonesia. Tambora’s

eruption of 1815 was the largest and most deadly ever recorded, causing the deaths of tens

of thousands. In the aftermath, the volcanic cloud was so dense and widespread that the

year 1816 became known as “The Year Without a Summer.”

The piece begins with power and majesty. The tempo soon quickens with bold melodic lines

and driving rhythms throughout. Boisterous percussion along with “stomping” and

“clapping” sounds represent the massive, random volcanic blasts as the music approaches

its rousing end.

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(Written by the composer)

Smithsonian web article on the explosion of Mount Tambora

African Folk Trilogy African Folk Trilogy features three authentic children’s songs with traditional

accompaniment. The first song, Banuwa, is from West Africa and means “Don’t Cry Little

Girl.” The same melody was used by Christian missionaries; thus it is also known as “African

Noel.” The second song, Ditho Tsa Mmele, is a South African game song that teaches

children the words for head, shoulders, etc. by pointing during the song. The third song is a

playground song from Ghana, Sansa Kroma, also a singing game. The hawk (sansa) tries to

catch small chicks but the group protects them from attack. A short reprise of the first song

concludes this trilogy, punctuated by a foot stomp.

African music is characterized by short melodic patterns repeated with endless variations

and spontaneous improvisations. The songs are quite simplistic, as are children’s songs all

over the world, and the treatment in performance gives them life and excitement.

Many thanks to Bryan Burton, Associate Professor of Music Education, West Chester

University, West Chester, Pennsylvania, for providing the arranger with authentic African

Children’s songs, authentic accompaniment patterns as well as the instruments used to play

them, and for comments about the style of music. He is an expert in the field of

multicultural music and has done field research all over the world, with the exception of

Antarctica.

(Written by the composer)

Youtube recording of Banuwa

Youtube recording of Sansa Kroma

Eventide Eventide is a term from Old English simply meaning “evening.” This lullaby for band was

premiered by the Elkhart Central High School Wind Ensemble (Tim Carnall, director) at the

2011 Indiana Music Educators’ Association state convention. The composition is meant to

portray a very young child’s thoughts as evening descends and slumber approaches. The

mobile over the crib turns gently, playing soothing, beautiful lines, and the child’s

imagination creates stories of adventure and joy for the circling figures overhead. Those

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stories are forgotten as eyelids grow heavy, and sound of the mobile’s music box fades,

perfectly timed with his descent into sleep.

Eventide is dedicated with love to my young cousins Dorrean and Benjamin.

(Written by the composer)

When Robots Rule The World It’s machine versus man in this robotic dubstep thriller, and at the center of it all are robots!

The word robot comes from the Slavic word robota, which means forced work. Often

Robots perform tasks that are too technical, repetitive, or dangerous for humans. There are

many different kinds of robots, including industrial, medical, military, and household. While

many robots use electric motors to operate moveable parts, some robots utilize hydraulic

systems.

When Robots Rule the World musically tells the story of a race of intelligent machines that

rises up to enslave humanity. While such a futuristic revolt is unlikely, some scientists feel

that it is inevitable.

(Written by the composer)

Web news video on the 10 robots that will change the world

Electricity (Race Around the Circuit) Electricity, the result of moving electrons, is a complex and fascinating concept. When

applied to a circuit, it becomes even more intriguing. Electricity cannot flow in an open

circuit - it must have a complete path before electrons can flow. The concept of this piece is

generated from the closing of a circuit, that is, the flipping of a light switch to “on.” As soon

as this happens, it initiates a wild ride through the wires, lights, and other electronic devices.

The subtitle of the work refers to what it would be like to watch a single electron race

through the circuit at mind-boggling speeds.

The opening section immediately takes off without warning, signaling the beginning of the

wild ride. This intensity continues until, without warning, a blackout occurs, shutting down

power to the entire circuit and immediately halting the progress of the electron. As the

music continues to build, the power eventually comes back on and the electron races to

complete the circuit. As it nears the end, the music becomes relentless, showing no sign of

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slowing down as the electron races with abandon. A powerful ending provides as much

intensity as the first few measures of the work.

(Written by the composer)

Brainpop video and more on electrical circuits

There Will Come Soft Rains This lovely lyrical offering was inspired by the poem of the same title, written by Sara

Teasdale:

There will come soft rains and the smell of the ground,

And swallows circling with their shimmering sound;

And frogs in the pools singing at night,

And wild plum trees in tremulous white;

Robins will wear their feathery fire,

Whistling their whims on a low fence-wire;

And not one will know of the war,

Not one will care at last when it is done.

Not one would mind, neither bird nor tree,

If mankind perished utterly;

And Spring herself, when she woke at dawn,

Would scarcely know that we are gone.

This poem also inspired Ray Bradbury, the beloved author of dozens of books, including

Fahrenheit 451, The Martian Chronicles, Dandelion Wine, and Something Wicked This Way

Comes, as well as hundreds of poems and short stories. His short story “There Will Come

Soft Rains” appears in The Martian Chronicles and was published in 1950. Sara Teasdale’s

poem plays an integral part in the story.

Most middle school students read the short story “There Will Come Soft Rains,” and are

moved by the thought of life continuing on after humans are gone. The voice-clock in the

story is represented by the “tick-tock” of the claves, and the music is lyrical and pastoral in

nature, expressing that we are just part of a cycle of life, and the Beauty of all that

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surrounds us will go on after we are gone. The piece ends quietly with unaccompanied wind

chimes.

(Written by the composer)

Clip from the 1979 movie “The Russian Chronicles”

Reading of “There Will Come Soft Rains” with video animation

RUSH - World Premiere Performance Last year, James Mobley contacted me about the possibility of writing a new piece for the

Brownstone Middle School Band he directs. We were particularly interested in having the

students be a part of the composition’s creative process. I visited the Brownstown Middle

School Band to get a sense of what kind of piece the students were interested in creating.

After a productive brainstorming session, the students contributed in creating a word cloud

containing many active words that seemed to be best encapsulated in the word “Rush.”

Because we wanted to incorporate an electronic music element, I equipped the students

with handheld audio recorders. They were sent off on a mission: to record various

real-world sounds appropriate to our “Rush” concept. We embarked on our journey around

the school recording sounds such as the wind blowing, water dripping, running in the

gymnasium, running outside, and coordinated speaking and chanting.

In addition, other students found sounds such as car engines, computer noises, and other

environmental noises that were sent to me over the course of the creative process. These

sounds were woven together into the electronic score that is performed simultaneously with

the live acoustic band performance.

With a name in tow, three ideas developed around a loose narrative: the rush of Human

Activity (of the Human Condition), the Rush of Machine and Technology, and the rush of

Nature. The three sections of the work therefore follow a loose three-movement structure.

After the opening introduction provided by the electronic score and coordinated stomping

by the ensemble, we are taken into the rush of human activity represented by a slowly

developing scale in some parts coupled with a rising and falling melody emerging in other

parts.

The second section, signifying a rush of machine and technology, introduces faster sixteenth

note motives and detached melodic cells that evoke typing, computer code, incessant

beeping, and occasionally a breakthrough of a melody.

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A small break separates the third movement, the rush of nature. Here we return to a more

melodic section combining two emerging Phrygian scale-based melodies. In conjunction,

they evoke the power of nature rushing in to take back what it once lost.

(Written by the composer)

The RUSH commissioning project was made possible in part by funding from The Michigan

Council for the Arts and Cultural Affairs and their regranting organization The City of Detroit

Recreation Department, The Woodhaven-Brownstown Education Foundation, and The

Woodhaven Band Boosters. The BMS Bands thank them for their generous support.

IMAGES FROM THE RUSH PROJECT: During the brainstorming session with

the Seventh Grade Band and Dr.

Anderson, this word cloud was

created. It was the starting point for

RUSH.

Dr. Anderson working with the students during the project.

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WHAT IS ELECTROACOUSTIC MUSIC:

In school and concert band circles, the term “electroacoustic music” or “EA music” is roughly

defined as any work that combines traditional acoustic instruments along with electronically

produced musical sounds. Those electronically produced sounds may include:

Electronic instruments (synthesizers, computers, ipads, etc.) that are

manipulated/performed in time by a performer.

A pre-created or pre-recorded “environment” of musical sounds which the ensemble

performs along with.

These musical sounds are either natural (real recorded sounds of nature, industry, human

action, etc.) or electronically generated (synthetic, such as a sine wave). These sounds are

often manipulated to create a musical palate for the composer, performer and audience

member which would not possible through the use of traditional instrumentation alone.

The electronic music organization Monoskop, explains the dawn of electronic music and

electroacoustic music this way:

Many date the formal birth of electroacoustic music to the late 1940s and early 1950s, and in particular to the work of two groups of composers whose aesthetic orientations were radically opposed. The Musique concrète group was centered in Paris and was pioneered by Pierre Schaeffer; their music was based on the juxtaposition and transformation of natural sounds (meaning real, recorded sounds, not necessarily those made by natural forces) recorded to tape or disc. In Cologne, elektronische Musik, pioneered in 1949–51 by the composer Herbert Eimert and the physicist Werner Meyer­Eppler, was based solely on electronically generated (synthetic) sounds, particularly sine waves. The precise control afforded by the studio allowed for what Eimert considered to be an electronic extension and perfection of serialism; in the studio, serial operations could be applied to elements such as timbre and dynamics.

Isolated examples of the use of electroacoustic and prerecorded music exist that predate Schaeffer’s first experiments in 1948. Ottorino Respighi used an (acoustical) phonograph recording of a nightingale’s song in his orchestral work The Pines of Rome in 1924, before the introduction of electrical record players; experimental filmmaker Walter Ruttmann created Weekend, a sound collage on an optical soundtrack in 1930; and John Cage used phonograph recordings of test tones mixed with live instruments in Imaginary Landscape no. 1 (1939), among other examples. In the first half of the Twentieth Century, a number of writers also advocated the use of electronic sound sources for composition, notably Ferruccio Busoni,

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Luigi Russolo, and Edgard Varèse, and electronic performing instruments were invented, such as the Theremin in 1919, and the Ondes Martenot in 1928.

Here are two examples of EA works for school concert bands by respected composers

Steven Bryant and Alex Shapiro:

Hear “Machine Awakens” by Steven Bryant This piece has been performed by PHMS Bands.

Hear “Paper Cut” by Alex Shapiro This piece has been performed by the BMS Bands.

Composers

Jonathan Anderson Dr. Anderson teaches composition and theory courses, and composes a variety of acoustic

and electroacoustic music. Having frequently collaborating with dance artists, his research

centers on kinesthetic approaches to creating music. His music has received honors, awards,

invitations and performances from the Society of Electro-Acoustic Music in the United States

(SEAMUS), the International Computer Music Conference (ICMC), the NYC Electronic Music

Festival, Judson Memorial Church, Triskelion Arts, the Symposium for Arts & Technology, the

International Society for Music Education, the Pierre Schaefer International Competition of

Computer Music, the Cuban Institute of Music & National Laboratory of Electroacoustic

Music, the Society of Composers, Inc (SCI), Electroacoustic Barn Dance Festival, the Studio

300 BYTE Gallery International Exhibition, the Florida Electronic Music Festival (FEMF),

Electronic Music Midwest, the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music,

Friends & Enemies of New Music, the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences, SCI/ASCAP, and

Voices of Change.

Prof. Anderson holds the Doctor of Musical Arts degree in Composition from the University

of North Texas (2010) where he studied with Butch Rovan, Cindy McTee, Joseph Klein, and

Jon Christopher Nelson; the Master of Music degree in Composition from the University of

North Carolina at Greensboro (2000), where he studied with Eddie Bass and Craig Walsh;

and the Bachelor of Arts degree in Music from Luther College (1998), where he studied with

John Howell Morrison and piano with John F. Strauss.

Jon Anderson WSU page

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Jon Anderson music on SoundCloud

Brian Balmages Brian Balmages is an award-winning composer, conductor, producer, and performer. He

holds a bachelor’s degree in music from James Madison University and a master’s degree

from the University of Miami in Florida. His compositions have been performed worldwide

at the state, national and international level. His active schedule of commissions and

premieres has incorporated groups ranging from elementary schools to professional

ensembles, including the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, Miami Symphony Orchestra,

University of Miami Wind Ensemble, Boston Brass, and the Dominion Brass Ensemble. In

2012, Mr. Balmages received the prestigious Albert Austin Harding Award from the

American School Band Directors Association. He is also a 2010 winner of the Harvey G.

Phillips Award for Compositional Excellence, presented by the International

Tuba-Euphonium Association.

As a conductor, Mr. Balmages enjoys engagements with numerous all-state and regional

honor bands and orchestras along with university and professional groups. Notable guest

conducting appearances have included the Midwest Clinic, Western International Band

Clinic, National Association for Music Educators, American School Band Directors

Association, CBDNA, the Kennedy Center, and Meyerhoff Symphony Hall. He has also served

as an adjunct professor of instrumental conducting and Acting Symphonic Band Director at

Towson University in Maryland.

Currently, Mr. Balmages is the Director of Instrumental Publications for The FJH Music

Company Inc. in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. He resides in Baltimore with his wife Lisa and their

two sons.

Brian Balmages website

Matthew Conaway Matthew R. Conaway was appointed to the Purdue faculty in August, 2012 as an Assistant

Professor of Bands. He serves as an associate director of the famed “All-American” Marching

Band and basketball pep bands, and directs the University Concert Band and Varsity Band.

Prior to his appointment to Purdue’s faculty, Conaway served for ten years as the Director of

Bands for the West Lafayette Community School Corporation, during which time the

program received many state and national accolades for musical excellence. During his

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tenure, West Lafayette became regarded as one of the great small-school music programs in

Indiana, with two state concert finals appearances and dozens of superior festival ratings.

Under Conaway’s leadership, the NAMM Foundation recognized the West Lafayette

Community School Corporation as one of the “Best Communities for Music Education in

America” in 2006, 2010, 2011, and 2012.

Conaway is an award-winning, internationally-known composer for concert bands, with over

fifty original works currently in publication. His compositions range from very beginning

through very advanced, based on his experience working with all levels of performers in

grade 5-12, collegiate, and professional ensembles. Conaway was honored to experience his

Carnegie Hall debut in March 2016 with a world premiere performance by the Purdue Wind

Ensemble.

He is also an accomplished arranger, and has written for athletic bands at Indiana

University, Purdue University, and many high schools and colleges throughout the country.

Millions of people have heard Conaway’s arrangements at multiple festivals, bowl games,

basketball tournaments, and other major sporting events since 1999. His compositions and

arrangements are available globally through the C.L. Barnhouse Company and the Hal

Leonard Corporation.

After graduating from Woodhaven (MI) High School in 1997, Conaway attended Indiana

University – Bloomington, where he studied arranging with David Woodley. He received his

Bachelor of Music Education with Distinction in 2001, and earned a Masters of Music degree

from the American Band College of Sam Houston State University in 2010. He is a member

of NAfME, CBDNA, NBA, Indiana Music Educators Association, Indiana Bandmasters

Association, and ASCAP. He is an honorary member of Tau Beta Sigma and Kappa Kappa Psi,

and was recently inducted into the Gamma chapter of Phi Beta Mu. He is in demand as a

clinician and adjudicator at concert band festivals and competitions throughout the

Midwest.

Barnhouse Publishing Co. page on Matt Conaway

Timothy Loest With musical works for band possessing an imaginative, well‐crafted style that resonates with

performers and audiences worldwide, Timothy Loest has become a name in instrumental

music synonymous with creativity, versatility and accessibility.

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Mr. Loest had his first work published in 1995, and today he is an exclusive composer and

arranger for The FJH Music Company Inc. The bestselling supplemental methods he has

written for FJH include Warm‐ups and Beyond and Rhythms and Beyond. and he is a co‐writer

of Measures of Success®: A Comprehensive Musicianship Band Method.

As a clinician, Mr. Loest delivers engaging and thought provoking presentations on various

aspects of instrumental music. He frequently guest conducts bands throughout the United

States and regularly accepts commissions.

Mr. Loest received his Bachelor of Music Education degree from Illinois State University, and

his Master of Music degree from Northwestern University. He holds membership in NAfME,

ASCAP, Illinois MEA, the Illinois Grade School Music Association, and the Christian Educators

Association International.

Mr. Loest is band director at F.E. Peacock Middle School in Itasca, Illinois. An ASCAP

award‐winning composer, he strives to advance music education through his writing and

teaching.

Timothy Loest website

Anne McGinty Anne McGinty is known throughout the world as the most prolific woman composer in the

field of concert band literature, having written more than 225 pieces, with more than 50 of

those commissioned by bands across the United States. Thousands of people have played

her music and discovered the joy and beauty of playing music that is both educational

(helping instrumentalists learn basic musical skills) and also musical, engaging their

imagination and encouraging them to stay in the instrumental music program. All of her

compositions and arrangements have been published. Her publishers include Queenwood

Publications (now Queenwood/Kjos), C. L. Barnhouse Co., Boosey & Hawkes, Hal Leonard

Corporation, Kendor Music, Kjos Publications and Southern Music Company.

She received her Bachelor of Music, summa cum laude, and Master of Music from Duquesne

University, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, where she concentrated on flute performance, music

theory and composition. She studied flute and chamber music with Bernard Goldberg and

composition with Joseph Willcox Jenkins.

She is a member of the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP)

and has received annual composition awards since 1986. She received the Golden Rose

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Award from the Women Band Directors National Association and the Outstanding Service to

Music Award from Tau Beta Sigma, a national honorary band sorority.

Highlights of her career include being the first woman composer commissioned to write for

the United States Army Band. She was commissioned to write an original composition (To

Keep Thine Honor Bright) for the Bicentennial of the United States Military Academy at West

Point and another (Victorious) for the United States Continental Army (now TRADOC) Band.

Another very special commission (‘Tis A Gift) was for victims of TWA Flight 800 and to help

heal the community of Montoursville, Pennsylvania, with music.

Barnhouse Publishing Co. webpage on Anne McGinty

William Owens William Owens received his Bachelor of Music Education degree in 1985 from VanderCook

College of Music in Chicago. A seasoned music educator, Mr. Owens is active as a composer,

conductor, and clinician throughout the United States. Mr. Owens has written numerous

commissioned and published works for middle school and high school concert bands. His music

has been programmed at prestigious venues such as the Midwest Clinic and appears on

required music lists both nationally and abroad. Principal commissions include those from the

California Band Directors Association, the Chicago Public Schools Bureau of Cultural Arts, and

the Texas University Interscholastic League. He is a winner of the ASCAPlus award and a

two‐time recipient of the Forrest L. Buchtel Citation for Excellence in Band Composition.

Professional memberships include ASCAP, the American Composers Forum, and Texas MEA.

Mr. Owens resides in Fort Worth, Texas, with his wife Georgia.

FJH Publishing Co. webpage on William Owens

Robert Sheldon Robert Sheldon has taught instrumental music in the Florida and Illinois public schools, and

has served on the faculty at Florida State University where he taught conducting and

instrumental music education classes, and directed the university bands. As Concert Band

Editor for Alfred Music Publishing, he maintains an active composition and conducting

schedule, and regularly accepts commissions for new works. Sheldon received the Bachelor

of Music in Music Education from the University of Miami and the Master of Fine Arts in

Instrumental Conducting from the University of Florida.

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An internationally recognized clinician, Sheldon has conducted numerous Regional and

All-State Honor Bands throughout the United States and abroad. His teaching career

included 28 years in the Florida and Illinois public schools as well as at the University of

Florida, Florida State University, Illinois Central College and Bradley University. He also held

positions as conductor of the Alachua County Youth Orchestra in Gainesville, Florida and the

Prairie Wind Ensemble in East Peoria, Illinois. He maintains membership in several

organizations that promote music and music education. He is lead author for the SOUND

INNOVATIONS FOR BAND method books, and is a co-author for the MEASURES OF SUCCESS

Volume 1 method book and the SOUND INNOVATIONS FOR STRINGS method books.

The American School Band Directors Association has honored him with the Volkwein Award

for composition and the Stanbury Award for teaching, and the International Assembly of Phi

Beta Mu honored him with the International Outstanding Bandmaster Award. He has also

been a twenty-eight-time recipient of the American Society of Composers, Authors and

Publisher’s Standard Award for his compositions in the concert band and orchestral

repertoire.

Robert Sheldon website

Michael Sweeney Michael Sweeney is currently Director of Band Publications for Hal Leonard Corporation in

Milwaukee, Wisconsin, one of the largest publishers of printed music in the world. Michael is

directly responsible for the development, production, recording and marketing of new

publications for school bands. In addition, he contributes as a composer and arranger in all

instrumental areas, and is particularly known for his writing at the younger levels for concert

band and jazz. Since joining the company in 1982, Hal Leonard has published over 500 of his

compositions and arrangements. Mr. Sweeney is a 1977 graduate of Indiana University

(Bloomington), where he earned a bachelor's degree in music education and studied

composition with Bernard Heiden, John Eaton and Donald Erb.

Prior to working for Hal Leonard he was a band director in Ohio and Indiana, working with

successful concert, jazz and marching programs at all levels from elementary to high school.

A winner of multiple ASCAP awards, his Ancient Voices (1994) and Imperium (1992) are

featured in the acclaimed Teaching Music Through Performance series by GIA Publications.

Other compositions such as Black Forest Overture (1996), The Forge of Vulcan (1997) and

Distant Thunder of the Sacred Forest (2003) have become staples in the repertoire for

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middle school bands. He has received commissions ranging from middle school and high

school bands to the Eastman Wind Ensemble and Canadian Brass. His works appear on

numerous state contest lists and his music is regularly performed throughout the world.

Michael is also in demand as a clinician and conductor for honor bands and festivals.

Michael resides north of Milwaukee where he enjoys fishing and playing the bodhrán.

Hal Leonard Publishing Co. webpage for Michael Sweeney

OUR KIDS THIS YEAR:

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At the Toledo Mudhens game, at the Jazz Clinic with Arthurs MS, and at the Walleye game.

WHAT A GREAT YEAR! Here’s the video of us playing the National Anthem for the Mudhens.

SPECIAL THANKS TO THE FOLLOWING:

Brownstown Middle School Staff Andrew Clark, Principal

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Roger Gurganus, Assistant Principal

Jill Robinson, Choir Director

WBSD Elementary Building Staff Cherie Godfrey, Principal & Louise Munson, Music Teacher - Bates Elementary

Caterina Berry, Principal & Dave Waggoner, Music Teacher - Erving Elementary

Thomas Martin, Principal & Deb Wieckowski, Music Teacher - Gudith Elementary

Michelle Briegel, Principal & Kelley Radowick, Music Teacher - Wegienka Elementary

Tim Podlewski, Principal & Lorie Schell, Music Teacher- Yake Elementary

Woodhaven-Brownstown School District Mark Greathead, Superintendent

Stacy Peterson, Curriculum Director

Rudy Wierich and the entire WBSD Support Services Staff

Woodhaven-Brownstown Board of Education Cara Pimer, President

Woodhaven-Brownstown Secondary Music Staff Brad Faryniarz, Director of Bands - PHMS and WHS

Chelsea Rize, Director of Choirs - PHMS and WHS

WHS Band Boosters Mary Hunt, President

Additional Organizations that helped fund RUSH: Michigan Council for the Arts and Cultural Affairs

City of Detroit Department of Recreation (MACA Grant Regranting Organization)

Woodhaven-Brownstown Education Foundation

& Our BMS Band Families - To all of you - My most heartfelt thanks!