Steven Bryant

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...

The BCM Discussion Forum is hosting composer David Holsinger this week as part of our brand new "Guest Artist Spotlight." David will be participating online all week, answering questions from all quarters. The forum is free and open to all - everyone is invited to sign up and participate!

On another note, Radiant Joy is already scheduled for a performance here at BGSU by Bruce Moss and the...

... is finished. Still some tweaks remaining to the score, and then there's the matter of making parts. The music, however, is finished, and it's a little different for me. Shiny. Happy. Joyous, even. :)

Premiere is set for October 17th 15th, by Jack Stamp and the Indiana University of Pennsylvania Wind Ensemble. They'll also be recording it in the Spring at some point.

I've moved into my...

I'm about to begin the long process of dissasembling my studio and packing into my pickup truck for the long drive to Ohio. I almost finished this piece for Jack Stamp's wind symphony at IUP, but I still need an ending. I wish I could do a fade out - that's what sounds best to me at the moment. Also, I still have no title. Some ideas, including one I might keep, but need to think on that a...

Beethoven's grave in the Zentralfriedhof, in Vienna:



I'm finally back in the US after an extended and spectacular stay in Austria and surrounding countries. Too much to describe in this post, but it was truly phenomenal. I'm going back next summer.

Flying back last Thursday was less spectacular (though I did get a free upgrade to Business Class, somehow, which made the 10 hour flight really...

We just finished our week at Mid Europe 2006, and I have way too many pictures and not enough time to really cover everything so far. The short of it: Austria is stunning. Schladming exceeds the ability of my camera to capture it. Mid Europe is a blast.

For all my new friends in the WYWOP, especially the flutes and oboes (whom I was a sectional coach for), it was truly great to meet and work...