CONSORTIUM COMMISSION

ROCK BAND CONCERTO

Duration

6-7 minutes

Difficulty

Grade 3

Buy-in

$300

Concert Band Consortium Commission - Rock Band Concerto

Standard Concert Band plus Rock Band* (4 players: lead guitar, rhythm guitar, bass guitar, drumset)
3 movements = 6-7 minutes total duration
Grade 3 (suitable for all high schools and advanced middle schools)
Completed by January 15, 2024 and delivered by PDF via email to all consortium members
Buy-in price is $300.
Final day to join consortium is September 1, 2023.

*Rock Band parts will also be grade 3ish, intended for students to be featured as the concerto players.

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About the work

Consortium Director Brad Faryniarz and Composer Benjamin Taylor aim to create a novel, fun piece allowing band directors to feature the talented students in their program or school that play rock band instruments.  The rock band parts will be provided 3 ways: as standard notation, tab notation, and a leadsheet outline with a recording provided for rote learning.  There will be no vocals.

Current plan for each movement:
Mvt 1 = Punk rock, Pop rock
Mvt 2 = Slow-Jam, Power Ballad
Mvt 3 = Hard rock, Metal, Grunge

As a teenager when I first heard S&M (San Francisco Symphony with Metallica) I was BLOWN away!  This piece will embody that spirit. https://youtu.be/cgRkGjnfJFQ?t=29
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Benefits to Consortium Members:
-Exclusive performance rights for 1 year following delivery of the completed work
-Right to give regional premiere of the work
-The composer has agreed to do a Zoom rehearsal session with any interested band at a discounted rate.

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Composer - Benjamin Dean Taylor

The music of Benjamin Dean Taylor (born 1983), has been described as “elegant and energetic” (Kenneth Thompson) and “powerful and direct with delightful surprises in each work.” (Marilyn Shrude) Having grown up as a performer in jazz, rock, ska, country, and concert bands as well as in choirs and orchestras, Taylor is driven to write music that highlights the strengths of each performing ensemble. His catalog of more than 100 works covers a large range of styles and genres including music written for orchestra, wind band, opera, choir, jazz big band, gamelan, chamber ensembles, and soloists with live electronics. Taylor has received commissions from ensembles including the Calidore String Quartet, Omaha Symphony, Solaire Saxophone Quartet, New World Youth Symphony, and the Detroit Symphony Orchestra Civic Wind Symphony. As a sought-after composer for wind band, Taylor has been commissioned by over 100 band directors of players at all educational levels. Recently named a recipient of his third commission from the Barlow Endowment, Taylor’s prizes and honors include Winner in the 2013 Ticheli Composition Contest, a grant from the Indiana Arts Council (2015), Dean’s Prize in Composition from Indiana University (2013), BMI Student Composers Award (2011), Winner in the American Composers Orchestra Underwood New Music Readings (2012), and an ASCAP Young Jazz Composer Award (2011). Benjamin Taylor completed a doctorate degree from Indiana University and holds degrees from Bowling Green State University (MM) and Brigham Young University (BA).

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Consortium Director - Brad Faryniarz

headshot here

Bio here

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Consortium Membership

BUY-IN $300 per ensemble
To become a consortium member, please buy-in using the paypal link below.  For other arrangements such as checks, please email the Consortium Director Brad Faryniarz directly at farynib@wbsdweb.com ​
The deadline to join the consortium is September 1, 2023.