Steven Bryant

The MSU Wind Symphony concert was particularly good this past Sunday. "Blink!" went really well, and sounded leagues better in the hall than it had in the rehearsal room (and also because I was actually sitting in front of the ensemble this time). The ending is a gorgeous, unexpected wash of sound, and is probably the most likely candidate for "I'm gonna steal some of that"...

The concert also...

Joel Puckett is the guest composer at Michigan State this weekend, with the Wind Symphony (conducted by fellow composer and DMA grad. student, Jim Colonna) doing his recent work, Blink!, tomorrow. I first met Joel a couple of years ago at the CBDNA convention in New York, and then again briefly at Midwest last year, but we had never had a chance to really hang, so this weekend has seen some...

I'm proud to announce the third release from Salamander Studios, Give It To Me. This is our first instrumental, and we're delighted to feature guest artist Jonathan Newman on this track. His solo in the 'B section' may well be the defining element of the work.

I also make an appearance on alto sax and ocarina, against my better judgment.

The phenomenal Austrian brass group, SoundInnBrass (warning: very out of date website), will be premiering my Loose Id for brass ensemble and drumset at the Midwest Clinic this December.

The group's instrumentation is 4 Trumpets, 2 Horns, 4 Trombones, Tuba, and Drumset/Percussion. I decided to make this version expressly for drumset, unlike the original brass quintet which used Timpani - I...

VOTE.

Some personal advice: if you have the option between a paper ballot and an electronic voting machine, choose the paper ballot. If you must use an electronic machine, check your vote very carefully (there should be a printed ballot on the side of the machine in most cases) - there are numerous reports (as in 2004) of the machine choosing a different candidate than the one you selected. ...

Just came across this useful resource. It's basically an online orchestration textbook. I haven't explored it in depth yet, but it has a really cool feature you couldn't get in an ordinary textbook: video demonstrations. Just pick an instrument, and you'll see clips with members of the Philharmonia Orchestra (UK) talking about, and demonstrating their particular instrument. This is all...

I'm way behind. Let's jump in:

Here are the long-ago promised pictures from the Radiant Joy premiere. I didn't take many this time. Here, I'm flanked by my posse, the powerhouse duo of Jack Stamp and Jason Worzbyt, who lead the bands program at IUP:



And here's my stalker, Vinnie, who played piano on the premiere of RedLine at Rowan earlier this year, and now played flute on the premiere of

I only have a second before I hit the road back to Bowling Green this morning. The premiere went well yesterday! I'm excited about this piece, and people seem to like it - who doesn't like a little joy in their day? Just wanted to say a quick "Thank you" to the Wind Symphony, the Concert Band, Dr. Jason Worzbyt, and of course Dr. Jack Stamp, for making this entire weekend possible and so...

Went to the Concert Band's rehearsal of Bloom. Their director, Jason Worzbyt, has done a great job with the piece - he takes it a a little bit faster than I do, and at first I was apprehensive, but much to my amazement, it works! He also had the low brass chords swell and recede on each chord change - something that had never occurred to me, but seemed very natural once I heard it. Jack and...

I'm in Indiana, Pennsylvania, for the world premiere of Radiant Joy. I spent the day driving across Ohio and western PA (through extraordinary Fall foliage scenery), and arrived in time for the 6pm rehearsal with the Wind Symphony. The band sounds great, and the piece really seems to work. We tweaked a few small things, but I ran out of corrections and changes before the rehearsal time was...

I've been delinquent in posting here, and not for a lack of interesting things going on. After all, a car crashed into the house next to me about 5:45 this morning. No one was hurt, and I was too groggy (and it was too cold) for me to go outside and start taking pictures. Sure was loud, though.

Anyway, Radiant Joy rehearsals have begin here at Bowling Green (and already well underway at IUP),...

The BCM Discussion forum is hosting a symposium on my piece, Dusk, through the end of next week. If you're a director or educator who's performed the piece, or are just interested in in finding out more, please come by and participate. You'll need to be signed up and at the forum (it's free and easy) and join the "Conductors, Directors, and Educators" usergroup.

There's a downloadable score...