The Music Speaks for me

Par SPARKE PHILIP. Whilst making no claims to be stylistically authentic, this little piece aims to capture the infectious spirit of mariachi, a word whose origins are lost in the mists of time, but which describes not only the performers (on guitars, vihuelas, violins, trumpets and harp) but also the music itself. Their music speaks of love, passion, politics, life in the country and revolutionary heroes but is unerringly uplifting in style and immediately recognisable as the spirit of Mexico. A chance to add that Spanish flavour to your concerts. / Niveau : 1.5 / Pièce de concert / Répertoire / Concert Band ou Harmonie

Novello New Choral Series-Craig McLeish writes of The Negro Speaks of Rivers; Langston Hughes (1902-1967) was the first black American to earn his living from writing. He was an innovator of jazz poetry becoming part of the Harlem Renaissance in the 1920s and 1930s. He wrote plays short stories novels and his poetry was widely read. He was also a journalist columnist and lecturer. The Negro Speaks of Rivers was perhaps his earliest published work written when only 17 and while travelling by train to Mexico to visit his father. As the train crossed the Mississippi he suddenly began thinking about how rivers had impacted on Negro history particularly in the fight against slavery.The four rivers mentioned in the poem lent themselves to using musical influences from those particular regions. However I have tried to keep these links fairly tenuous to avoid overt pastiche. A few years ago I was fortunate enough to work with Congolese musicians. These sessions led to the intricate rhythms in The Congo. The Mississippi mentions New Orleans so a jazz fugue seemed the most appropriate compositional device to weave into the texture. The spirit of The Nile was gauged from many hours listening avidly to Egyptian music.Craig McLeish began his musical life as a chorister at St Paul’s Cathedral. As a bass guitarist conductor musical arranger and composer he has worked with a wide variety of groups in several genres and scored a hit with the cult pop band ‘Fat & Frantic’. He is musical director of Young Voices UK and conducts several youth and community choirs in and around Milton Keynes. Listen to an excerpt from Craig McLeish's The Negro Speaks Of Rivers:  

No. 1 - Effortlessly Love Flows-For double mixed chorus a cappella. This is the first movement of Kernis' Ecstatic Meditations which includes Effortlessly Love Flows How the Soul Speaks to God I Cannot Dance O Lord and How God Answers theSoul. Ecstatic Meditations was composed in 1999 for Philip Brunelle and the Plymouth Music Series Ensemble Singers and Choir. Like all of Kernis' music it ‘bears the unmistakable stamp of a wildly fertile musicalimagination…with rich poetic imagery.’ The text is by Mechthild of Magdeburg translated by Jane Hirshfield.Named one of 75 ‘American Masterpieces of Choral Music’ by the National Endowment for the Arts.

Press Promotion Distribution and Retail-Berklee expert speaks on how to market and distribute your songs and group.Sell more music! Learn the most effective marketing strategies available to musicians leveraging the important changes and opportunities that thedigital age has brought to music marketing.This multifaceted and integrated approach will help you to develop an effective worldwide marketing strategy.Step by step you will develop an active marketing plan andtimeline tailored to your unique strengths and budget.You will learn to time your marketing campaign effectively publicize your music to traditional print outlets and emerging online opportunities understand the currentopportunities for online satellite and terrestrial radio play as well as navigate various retail and distribution options both at brick-and-mortar and online options such as iTunes Rhapsody and other services.

When Love Speaks is a piece composed by Owain Park for his cycle 'Shakespeare Love Songs' commissioned by The Maesbury Singers. This work is arranged for Unaccompanied SATB Choir. The cycle 'Shakespeare Love Songs' is a series of four compositions that set Shakespeare's words to music. When Love Speaks is a setting of Shakespeare's Sonnet 116. Park's composition certainly does justice to the beauty and universal theme of this sonnet.

Songs of the Bagpipe and Hornpipe. Par HOSAY JAMES L.. This delightful medley of timeless Scottish tunes speaks to the piper in all of us. Richly orchestrated and profuse with creative contrast, it will be an exciting addition to your next concert appearance. Regarding preparation, the ranges, rhythms and mixture of styles are right on target for this level band, and Piper’s Rhapsody is sure to become a favorite with your musicians. A study of Scotland’s culture and how the bagpipe and hornpipe are important would be appropriate. A find! / Niveau : 2.5 / Pièce de concert / Répertoire / Concert Band ou Harmonie

Learn the art of jazz vocal improvisation! This book will help you hear, understand and apply jazz theory so that you can solo as a complete musician?in the same way that instrumentalists do. Each lesson offers a core musical concept related to harmony, melody, and rhythm, integrating skills such as conducting and analysis. All concepts are reinforced with practical exercises. The accompanying audio tracks demonstrate techniques and let you practice improvising along with a piano accompaniment.
You will learn to:
Develop your sense of timing and swing
Understand jazz harmony, such as tensions and non-diatonic chords, as well as chord progressions such as II V and cycle V progressions, and use harmony as your basis for creating expressive solos
Navigate song forms, such as AABA, blues forms, turnarounds, and other common jazz structures
Improve your ear for jazz harmony through studying intervals and chord progressions, and by memorizing emblematic jazz melodic patterns
Create expressive vocal lines that work well over jazz chords and integrate well within the context of a jazz ensemble
?Mili Bermejo?s Vocal Jazz Improvisation is the most comprehensive vocal book I have ever seen on improvisation. Her years of research and her wisdom and artistry leave no stones unturned. I would recommend this book to instrumentalists as well, to develop their ears and breadth of expression.?
?Jerry Bergonzi, Jazz Saxophonist, Composer, Author, Educator

?I have been a huge fan of Mili as an artist for many years now, and have admired her impeccable skills as a teacher for just as long. Seeing Mili perform in duo with Dan Greenspan is one of the great wonders of the world. They make voice and bass seem like an orchestra, harmonically rich and complete, and emotionally compelling. How lucky for us that Mili has written a book on improvisation from her own assured and gracious vantage point. Her approach is accessible, organic, personal, and best of all, inspiring! She takes the fear factor out and provides tools to make improvisation a truly creative and joyful experience.?
?Peter Eldridge, Jazz Singer, Pianist, Composer (New York Voices)

?Creating awareness is at the core of this beautiful material that was very much needed in the vocal jazz field. Here is a book with clever, effectively organized information for all vocalists to develop a practical framework that covers the foundation to find confidence, strength and ultimately freedom as a vocal improviser.
Mili?s music speaks to the heart, overflowing with humanity, joy, and compassion, and this book does the same. Mili traces a clear path, guiding us step by step along the way. She draws on her own experience, which I must say reflects all vocalists? experience, as we walk this fascinating journey of jazz singing.?
?Magos Herrera, GRAMMY-nominated Jazz Singer

?How lucky for all of us that Mili Bermejo put her decades of experience and skill as both performer and teacher into this book. What a gift! Thank you, Mili.?
?Tierney Sutton, Multi-GRAMMY Nominated Jazz Singer
/ Méthodes et pédagogie / Chant / / BERKLEE

Now this piece is really fun! Scored for treble chorus (SSA) with piano and optional string bass and drum set the musical style hearkens to an earlier time but still speaks to us today. Your female singers and your audience will love it.

Song cycle for medium voice and piano based upon the poetry of Ivor Gurney and Leonard Clark. A set of pieces very much in the English lyrical vocal writing tradition of Butterworth Ireland and of course Gurney.'The Pine Boughs Past Music is a song cycle baseed upon poetry associated with Gloucester and was commissioned to celebrate the eightieth anniversary of the Gloucester Music Society. Having purposefully sought inspiration from a wide array of Gloucester poets from Henley to Harvey I finally found inspiration in the poetry of Ivor Gurney whose work is so saturated with the Gloucestershire landscape. In his poetry Idiscovered the essential element I needed to bind the cycle together: the eternal backdrop of nature upon which the poet's thoughts are played out.It would have been quite easy to conclude the set with another poem by Ivor Gurney. However it was to Leonard Clark I turned. The title of his summative poem speaks for itself 'In Memoriam: Ivor Gurney': a haunting elegy that pays tribute to Gurney's everlasting memory.'                                 - Ian VenablesFirst performed on April 15th 2010 at St Mary-de-Lode Gloucester performed by Roderick Williams (Baritone) and Andrew West (Pianist).Commissioned by Christine Talbot-Cooper to celebrate the Gloucester Music Society's eightieth anniversary.

Perfect for Pentecost this song about the Holy Spirit with words by J. Paul Williams and music by Jan Sanborn is warm and inviting. Pianist par excellence Sanborn caresses the keyboard part with creativity and harmonic flare.As always Williams delivers a text that sings and speaks a message of tenderness and comfort. Rehearsal CD and Rehearsal CD 10-Pak available.

(Love Entered in My Heart One Day)-This setting captures the mixture of despair tenderness and nostalgia found in one of Sara Teasdale's darker poems. “The Wayfarer” speaks of love as a “sad unwelcome guest ” a sentiment that the composer has captured expertly in his music. A wonderfully dramatic accompaniment will take a skilled pianist. Singers with the utmost expression will bring this unique setting to life. Duration: ca. 5:15