OLD CHURCHES, NEW AUDIENCES
BANDQUEST PIECE BY COLGRASS RECOMMENDED BY PEPPER

Reprinted with permission from the September/October 2003 issue of Sounding Board.

“If you are looking for something that stands apart from the average band fare, take a look at ‘Old Churches’”

That suggestion comes from the world’s largest sheet music retailer, J.W. Pepper Music, which has named the BandQuest piece “Old Churches” by Michael Colgrass as one of their “Editors’ Choice” selections for 2003. Each year, Pepper prominently features its choices for the most important and significant pieces in band and choral music in its promotional materials. The company also provides a CD box-set, including recordings of the pieces, to educators around the country.

Like all BandQuest pieces, “Old Churches” was written for middle-level bands. Even so, it remains recognizably a work by its Pulitzer Prize-winning composer. In “Old Churches,” Colgrass combines themes from Gregorian chant (some of the earliest notated music in the Western tradition) with “graphic notation” (a non-traditional, visually-oriented method of indicating what notes to play) to create an aura of voices echoing in a monastery. The resulting music is atmospheric, evocative – and quintessentially Colgrass. As the Pepper editors put it: “Using easy graphic notation, students have a fun and creative way to explore sound production along with the compositional process. It’s quite an amazing work for this level, and one worth exploring.”

Kathy Fernandes, Instrumental Editor for Pepper, also had good things to say about the Colgrass piece – and the other BandQuest titles: “Intriguing thematic material and Colgrass’s fine compositional style combine to make ‘Old Churches’ a powerful, unique musical statement. This work enriches the repertoire at this level, and will surely earn its place in the band canon. ‘Old Churches’ carries on the high standards set by previous editions in the Forum’s BandQuest series. Creative ideas form the nucleus of each work.”

For his part, Colgrass says creating such a work for young performers proved something of a revelation: “Since the BandQuest commission for this work,” he reports, “I have become increasingly interested in writing music for young bands, middle school in particular. At present, I’m working on a commission from the Longmeadow School System in Massachusetts. They will also have me do a music-creativity project for their music students.

“I have found writing for children to be in some ways more challenging than writing for a professional symphony orchestra. I have to call upon every bit of imagination and skill to create music that has emotional content and intellectual interest, within the performing limitations of eighth-graders. I was never trained to do that, and I think the experience has given me new insights into how to write better for professionals,” he says. “I can thank the BandQuest project for opening my eyes to all this.”

Meanwhile, two additional BandQuest titles, Thomas Duffy’s “A+: A ‘Precise’ Prelude and an ‘Excellent’ March” and Libby Larsen’s “Hambone,” have sold well enough that a second printing is being planned.

“BandQuest has been quite successful on a number of levels,” says Carey Nadeau, the Forum’s National Program Coordinator. “BandQuest has already been featured in numerous band clinics across the country and used in two academic master’s degree projects. Sales have been much higher than we initially anticipated, and it’s our hope that our new BandQuest website will further increase interest and help spread the word.”

ABOUT BANDQUEST
With BandQuest, the American Composers Forum has commissioned nationally recognized composers to work with middle-level bands to create original pieces of music that inspire, challenge and educate. The program aims to immerse young bands in new music and old cultures. Integral to this concept are the interdisciplinary materials and interactive CD-ROMs that help tie each musical work to a variety of cultural traditions and histories. The entire series is exclusively distributed by Hal Leonard.

Eight BandQuest titles have been released to date:
Chen Yi: “Spring Festival”
Michael Colgrass: “Old Churches”
Brent Michael Davids: “GrandmotherSong”
Thomas C. Duffy: “A+: A ‘Precise’ Prelude and an ‘Excellent’ March”
Adolphus Hailstork: “New Wade ‘n Water”
Libby Larsen: “Hambone”
Tania León: “Alegre”
Alvin Singleton: “Ridgeview Centrum”

Additional BandQuest pieces by Michael Daugherty, Jennifer Higdon, Stephen Paulus, Robert X. Rodriguez, and Judith Lang Zaimont are scheduled for later release. More information available on the web at:

BandQuest: www.BandQuest.org
Hal Leonard: www.halleonard.com
J.W. Pepper: www.jwpepper.com

Read more...

Longmeadow Commissioning Project

After Michael Colgrass composed Old Churches, he was invited to participate in a residency and composition workshop with the students in Longmeadow, Mass. 

Read about the experience from local articles.

Recent Developments in Band Repertoire
With Recommended Literature for All Grade Levels
by Robert J. Ambrose

Reprinted with permission, Georgia Music News , Vol. 63, Number 3, Spring, 2003, pp.49-52

http://www.bandquest.org/teachers/georgianews.shtml

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