Mark J. Connor, Composer
  • About
    • Biography
    • Testimonials
    • EPK
  • Music
  • Collaborate
    • Commissions
    • CSIC Orchestra Commission
  • Blog
  • EB Podcast
  • Contact

Everything Band: Episode 66 - Steven Bryant

6/25/2018

Comments

 
Composer Steven Bryant's music for winds has quickly become part of the standard repertoire. As the son of a music educator, he is a strong supporter of music education and he joins me from the mountains of Austria to talk about his early influences, his music, and his career to this point.
Topics:
  • Steven’s background as the son of a high school band director and how that influenced his path to becoming a composer.
  • The story of BCM International and Steve’s early success with Chester Leaps In and the stories of Dusk and Ecstatic Waters.
  • The value of being self-published and the nuts and bolts about a career as a successful composer.
  • Writing music for band and electronics.

Links:
  • Steven Bryant
  • Mid Europe Band Festival
  • Bryant: Chester Leaps In
  • Bryant: Dusk
  • Bryant: Ecstatic Waters
  • Bryant: Hummingbrrd
  • Bryant: Concerto for Wind Ensemble
  • John Cage: As Slow as Possible

Biography:

Steven Bryant’s music is chiseled in its structure and intent, fusing lyricism, dissonance, silence, technology, and humor into lean, skillfully-crafted works that enthrall listeners and performers alike. His seminal work Ecstatic Waters, for wind ensemble and electronics, has become one of the most performed works of its kind in the world, receiving over 250 performances in its first five seasons. Recently, the orchestral version was premiered by the Minnesota Orchestra to unanimous, rapturous acclaim. The son of a professional trumpeter and music educator, he strongly values music education, and his creative output includes a number of works for young and developing musicians.
John Corigliano states Bryant’s “compositional virtuosity is evident in every bar” of his 34’ Concerto for Wind Ensemble. Bryant’s first orchestral work, Loose Id for Orchestra, hailed by composer Samuel Adler as “orchestrated like a virtuoso,” was premiered by The Juilliard Symphony and is featured on a CD release by the Bowling Green Philharmonia on Albany Records. Alchemy in Silent Spaces, commissioned by James DePreist and The Juilliard School, was premiered by the Juilliard Orchestra in May 2006. The Chicago Symphony Orchestra’s MusicNOW series featured his brass quintet, Loose Id, conducted by Cliff Colnot, on its 2012-13 concert series.

Notable upcoming projects include an orchestral work for the Detroit Symphony Orchestra (April, 2018), an evening-length dramatic work for the Pittsburgh New Music Ensemble, a choral work for the BBC Singers (July, 2017), a work for FivE for Euphonium Quartet and wind ensemble (2019), and a large work to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the University of Illinois Bands. Recent works include a Concerto for Alto Saxophone for Joseph Lulloff and the Michigan State University Wind Symphony (winner of the 2014 American Bandmasters Sousa Ostwald Award), and a Concerto for Trombone for Joseph Alessi and the Dallas Wind Symphony. Other commissions have come from the Gaudete Brass Quintet (Chicago), cellist Caroline Stinson (Lark Quartet), pianist Pamela Mia Paul, the Amherst Saxophone Quartet (funded by the American Composers Jerome Composers Commissioning Program), the University of Texas – Austin Wind Ensemble, the US Air Force Band of Mid-America, the Japanese Wind Ensemble Conductors Conference, and the Calgary Stampede Band, as well as many others.
​
Steven studied composition with John Corigliano at The Juilliard School, Cindy McTee at the University of North Texas, and Francis McBeth at Ouachita University, trained for one summer in the mid-1980s as a break-dancer (i.e. was forced into lessons by his mother), was the 1987 radio-controlled car racing Arkansas state champion, has a Bacon Number of 1, and has played saxophone with Branford Marsalis on Sleigh Ride. He resides in Durham, NC with his wife, conductor Verena Mösenbichler-Bryant (Duke University).
Comments
    Picture

    About

    A podcast featuring conversations with teachers, composers, and performers of music for winds and percussion.

    Everything Band is a member of the Music Teacher Development Podcast Network. The MuTed network provides support in the form of audio on demand programming designed by and for music educators. You can find more information about our network at mutedpodcasts.com

    Picture
    The Everything Band Podcast is proud to partner with Kaleidoscope Adventures.

    Categories

    All
    2017 Midwest Clinic
    2018 Midwest Clinic
    2018 TMEA Convention
    2019 Midwest Clinic
    Advocacy
    Authors
    Beginners
    Composers
    Conductors
    Historians
    Jazz Education
    Marching Arts
    Middle School
    Military Bands
    Performers
    Publishers
    Retailers

    Archives

    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017

    Listen on Google Play Music
    Picture

    RSS Feed

Site and contents copyright © 2020 Mark J. Connor. All rights reserved.
  • About
    • Biography
    • Testimonials
    • EPK
  • Music
  • Collaborate
    • Commissions
    • CSIC Orchestra Commission
  • Blog
  • EB Podcast
  • Contact