This 23rd installment is proposed by Robert Ambrose, currently serves as Director of Bands and Professor of Music at Georgia State University a research institution of over 53,000 students located in Atlanta. In addition, he is Founder and Music Director of the Washington, D.C.-based National Chamber Winds and the Atlanta-based ensembles the Atlanta Chamber Winds and Ensemble ATL
Dr. Ambrose is in constant demand as a guest conductor and has performed on four continents. Recent engagements include performances in Australia, Canada, Finland, Germany, Greece, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore, and Taiwan as well as across the United States. Ambrose is a prolific arranger with nearly two dozen publications to his credit. He studied at Boston College, Boston University, and Northwestern University, where he received the Doctor of Music degree in conducting.
Grade 1
A Celtic Hymn for 4-Part Adaptable Ensemble (2024) – 4’ – Purchase at Murphy Music Press
Katie Jenkins (Great Britain,1999 )
Katie Jenkins is an award-winning composer and producer who was born in Wales and is now based in New York City. Her oeuvre spans traditional concert music as well as music for film, dance, fashion, theater, and more. Jenkins received the BM and MM degrees in Music Composition from the Julliard School where she was a Henry Mancini Fellowship recipient. She is currently on the faculty of the Julliard Pre-College.
A Celtic Hymn for 4-Part Adaptable Ensemble is Katie Jenkins’s first work for winds. It was written at the request of Robert J. Ambrose for the Beginning Band Adaptable Series published by Murphy Music Press. The goal of this series is to provide short, substantive, adaptable works at the grade ½ and 1 level.
A Celtic Hymn is not directly inspired by a particular hymn tune but rather pays homage to many Welsh tunes that were part of the composer’s upbringing. According to Jenkins, “Wales has a rich culture of hymn singing and so that found its way into the composition, more in the sense of form and style than direct quotation.” Jenkins recalls being particularly inspired by the hymn tunes Myfanwy, Suo Gan, Calon Lan, and the Welsh National Anthem while composing this work.
As a 4-part adaptable work, it can be performed by as few as four winds, however it works well for ensembles of any size. In addition to the wind parts there are five optional but recommended percussion parts. Should an ensemble have fewer percussionists, parts can be safely omitted.
The key signature, note durations, rhythms, and ranges all fall within the Grade 1 difficulty. Students must be able to execute legato and slurred articulations. The dynamic range comprises piano to fortissimo. Jenkins creates musical interest through lush harmonies which often move slightly from the diatonic key. The percussion parts are suitable for very young percussionists and can be simplified if needed.
This piece offers a range of robust extra-musical teaching opportunities. For example, it could serve as a starting point for an exploration of Welsh hymns, or culture, or more broadly of Welsh or British history.
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Grade 2
Kaansayan Sumuku (2024) – 3' – Purchase at Isaac Chia
Isaac Chia (Malaysia, 1981)
Malaysian composer/arranger Isaac Chia began his music studies on trumpet at the age of 10. Shortly thereafter he began composing his first works. He studied music at UCSI University in Kuala Lumpur and later became a tutor and lecturer there. In 2008, he left Malaysia to study in France, He continues to reside in France where he composes and arranges classical, pop, jazz, and electronic music for a variety of media. He also composes for film. Chia has over a dozen wind band works and arrangements to his credit.
Kaansayan Sumuku was commissioned by the National Band Directors Association of Malaysia as one of the set pieces for the 2024 Malaysia Primary School Band Competition. Kaansayan Sumuku (translated simply to “welcome”) is a folk song of the Murut people of Sabah, East Malaysia.
Chia’s treatment of this simple folk melody is interesting and varied. The melodic material is shared generously through many instruments. The work explores a variety of tempi from quarter note = 84 to 132. The instrument ranges are reasonable for young musicians. The percussion writing is idiomatic with six players required.
Chia creates a rhythmically compelling piece using note durations ranging almost entirely from whole to eighth note. The only exceptions are his use of sixteenth-note patterns in the snare drum and two measures where winds play two consecutive sixteenth notes in quasi-fanfare style.
This work is exceptional for building skills in articulation, dynamic contrasts, and ensemble balance. For ensembles with incomplete instrumentation, Chia has created an adaptable version of the piece.
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Grade 2
Passages (2024) – 3’ – Purchase at Activist Music
Alex Shapiro (United States, 1962)
American composer Alex Shapiro is an imaginative and gifted composer with a wide and varied catalogue of works for nearly every medium. A seasoned composer, she has written generously for wind band with over two dozen original compositions, many of which are exceptional works for younger musicians. Among her most popular wind band works are Paper Cut (2010), Lights Out (2015), Rock Music (2016), Tight Squeeze (2012), and Suspended (2021) Her enormously creative and highly evocative music often utilizes pre-recorded sounds. Shapiro is one of America’s most highly regarded composers writing for wind band.
Passages is “an ultra-flex piece for wind ensemble or orchestra and pre-recorded soundscape.” The work is scored for pre-recorded track and any number of instruments. The printed materials comprise a set of parts but no score, as any one part can serve as a conductor’s score.
The work is three minutes in duration and comprises eleven 4-bar cells (in 5/4 meter) that can be performed in any order. Shapiro explains:
“Each 4-bar line is a separate cell. Musicians can begin on ANY line and are encouraged to avoid playing the lines in the order in which they appear on the page. Musicians can play any cell in any order, but they must play the entire cell from beginning to end, rather than start at a random place within the cell . . . This ensures that all musicians simultaneously play the first measure of their cell, as the cells are designed to interlock.”
The cells vary in difficulty from Grade 2 to Grade 4, allowing the work to be performed by a wide range of musicians. In addition, there are optional through-composed bass and unpitched percussion parts that can be utilized. Passages was one of many outstanding works to be composed in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The cellular nature of the work allows it to be performed virtually with ease.
This piece offers many fulfilling teaching opportunities. It can serve as a starting point for a discussion of aleatoric music composition and/or interpretation. Alternatively, it can ignite a conversation about the blending of acoustic and pre-recorded sounds. Still differently, students can be asked to explore flex and ultra-flex works, many of which were born during the COVID-19 pandemic.
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Grade 3
Hummingbird – The Angel’s Messenger (2023) – 4’30”
Purchase at Meechan Music Publishing
Peter Meechan (Great Britain, 1980)
Premiere on September 30,2023 at Calgary, Alberta, Canada
Performed by Webber Academy Senior Concert Band
Conducted by Jeff Bryant
The music of Canadian British composer Peter Meechan is performed extensively throughout the world. His music has been commissioned, recorded, broadcasted, and performed by some of the world’s leading symphony orchestras, wind ensembles, brass bands, conductors, and soloists. Meechan’s music is featured on over 130 commercial recordings and has been performed at festivals and clinics globally, including the Midwest Clinic and The American Bandmasters Association, College Band Directors National Association, International Trumpet Guild, International Tuba and Euphonium Association, and the British Association of Symphonic Bands and Ensembles conferences. His works for brass band have been used as compulsory selections at music contests across the world. Meechan has written over 50 works for wind band and chamber winds.
Hummingbird – The Angel’s Messenger was composed in 2023 on a commission from band director Jeff Bryant, in honor of his mother Lynn Bryant. While only 79 measures in length, it is nevertheless a significant work for young band.
The opening tempo of quarter note = 56 persists throughout except for two slight tempo modifications near the end of the work. The music contains several hallmarks of Meechan’s lyrical music including beautifully orchestrated chamber sections, the use of stasis and silence to create repose, and restrained, poignant percussion writing. The melodic material is presented primarily in dotted half, half, and quarter notes. Meechan creates energy through faster-moving accompaniment figures and increased use of percussion at moments of climax. While squarely a grade 3 work, the upper woodwinds and trumpets must be able to perform sixteenth note passages as well as grace notes and, in the case of flute and oboe, one passage of thirty-second notes. The piano part plays a prominent role (Lynn Bryant was a pianist) and while not difficult, it cannot be omitted.
This music is replete with teaching opportunities. The beautiful, often slow-moving melodies can be used to help young musicians work on phrasing and playing expressively over a significant span of time. The multiple climactic moments can be used to teach high point and pacing. The sparse and restrained percussion writing can be used to show how that instrument family is used to help the music to ebb and flow. The faster-moving rhythms that occur midway through the piece can be used to show how composite rhythm impacts pacing. The unusual I6 - bVI6/4 chord progression at the work’s climactic moment can be used to show how harmonic progression can signal a work’s emotional high point. This is a spectacular work that will require young musicians to think deeply about their role in telling the composer’s musical story.
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Grade 4
Chamak (2023) – 10' – Purchase at Murphy Music Press
Reena Esmail (United States, 1983)
Premiered on March 15, 2023 at Aurora, Illinois
Performed by Waubonsie Valley High School Wind Ensemble
Conducted by Mark Duker
Indian American composer Reena Esmail works between the worlds of Indian and Western classical music. She has composed works for orchestra, wind band, chorus, and chamber ensemble, and has written commissions for the Los Angeles Master Chorale, Seattle Symphony, Baltimore Symphony, and Kronos Quartet. She is the 2020-2025 Los Angeles Master Chorale Swan Family Artist in Residence. Prior to this appointment, she had residencies with the Seattle Symphony, the Tanglewood Music Center, and the Spoleto Festival. Esmail holds degrees in composition from the Julliard School and the Yale School of Music. She currently resides in her hometown of Los Angeles.
Chamak is a ten-minute, three-movement work was written for a consortium of American schools led by Mark Duker and Waubonsie Valley High School in Naperville, Illinois. According to the composer “The word chamak means ‘spark’ in Hindi — and the title of this work was inspired by a beautiful couplet from the Indian saint-poet Kabir which translates to:
Just as a seed holds oil
And a spark holds fire
Your own spirit is inside of you
If you can awaken it, you must.”
While listed as a grade 4 work, there are some musical challenges within. The first movement is written in five flats, and a section of the second movement uses four sharps. The final movement comprises extended sections in 7/8 and 5/8 meter.
Chamak demonstrates Esmail’s agility at blending Indian and Western classical music traditions. While the harmonic framework of the piece feels rooted in Western classical music, the melodic material is based on Indian ragas. The composer states, “Each of the three movements of this piece explores a different translation of the word ‘chamak’: the first is Ember, which is a dark, smoky, lilting melody in Raag Bhimpalas. The second, Luster, is a warm, intimate journey in Raag Hamsadhwani. And the last movement, Spark, is a fiery, vibrant jaunt in Raag Jog.”
Indian classical music appears in the work in several other ways. First, the work features a prominent tabla part. While optional, the composer strongly recommends its inclusion and, on her website, offers to connect ensemble conductors with tabla players in their area. Secondly, the musicians are asked to speak Indian bols, a standardized mnemonic syllable used to define rhythmic pattern. Finally, Esmail includes in the first movement an optional solo section in which can use the Raag Bhimpalas. On her website, Esmail provides detailed audio tutorials explaining how to perform the bols and solo section. These and other materials can be found on the composer's website.
The author knows of no other work for wind band that infuses Western and Indian classical music idioms so well. Chamak is a highly recommended work and will be well worth the investment in time for the conductor and musicians.
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