I’ve toyed with this idea for a while, I just never really know how I should approach it. If you are a lay reader or hobby musician, how do I not blow your mind with complex musical concepts? If you are a professional musician or conductor how do I keep you interested? I’m just going to write about what inspires me, and go from there. Hopefully I make this accessible without being too much of a band nerd.

I will start BB#1 with a favorite composer of mine. His name is Steven Bryant. Before you ask, I have played and conducted a few of his works, but I find myself wanting to listen to his work more than I ever wanted to play or conduct it. Why you may ask? I find his writing to be original, virtuosic, lyrical, emotional, and even humorous from time to time. His music moves me, like great composers of the past move me. Steven Bryant just happens to write a lot of work for wind ensemble and band. He writes for professional, college, high school, and even middle school bands.

Steven Bryant has his own website. www.stevenbryant.com You can listen to various pieces of his. There are also numerous YouTube videos of his work that you can view. If you are expecting Sousa style writing… just stop now. Bryant writes very creative music for winds. I’m always intrigued by the orchestrations and motivic developments he can put onto paper for musicians to perform. The fresh approach or philosophy of music making he employs engages me in a deeper form of listening. He provokes thought and wonder… Let’s learn a little more about him shall we?

Bryant is from Little Rock, Arkansas. His primary composition professors are the late W.Francis McBeth(Ouachita Baptist University,) Cindy McTee(University of North Texas,) and John Corigliano(Julliard.) These three composer influences are present throughout Bryant’s work. I do not want to cite specific examples as this would bore the lay reader or overwhelm them with too much listening. I will mention three works by his mentors that are worthy of a listen. Of Sailor’s and Whales is one of several works of note by the late W. Francis McBeth. I enjoy Cindy McTee’s Soundings and California Counterpoint. John Corigliano’s Symphony #1 is a must listen. Please read program notes prior to listening. It will help you understand the work. Each work is available on You Tube by various performing groups. I have recordings by the University of North Texas Wind Symphony for the McBeth and McTee compositions. I have the Chicago Symphony Orchestra – Barenboim recording of the Corigliano.

Bryant is married to the conductor Verena Mosenbichler-Bryant. She is the chair of the Duke University Music Department as well as the conductor of their wind symphony. They reside in North Carolina during the academic school year and summer in Verena’s home country of Austria. Bryant self-publishes his music. Anyone can purchase scores or parts off of his websites in PDF format. I attest to the security and authenticity of this website as I have purchased scores from Bryant’s website personally.

Now onto the music. These are works that I think capture the creativity of Steven Bryant as a composer the best.

Concerto for Wind Ensemble (2007-2010)-This work is in five movements totaling about 34 minutes of music. The work began as a single movement piece sculpted from music he had written as an undergrad for a commission by the United States Air Force Band. Following that performance he expanded the piece over the next three years using a method of recycling, reediting, and redeveloping the material in a grander scale. This features every section of the wind ensemble in various settings and methods. Only in the final stages of the work do you hear the complete ensemble play together. In his own words the piece is modeled off of the concerto grosso form. I particularly enjoy the orchestrations. The play between dense and sparse textures creates new environments or spaces within the traditional wind ensemble/band framework.

Ecstatic Waters (2008/rev. 2025) This is a work for wind ensemble or orchestra and electronics. This is one of the most surreal and unique constructions of sound within the wind ensemble. The work uses opposing musical elements (the composers words.) The dialogue and attempted resolutions between these elements offer a lush and varied musical experience. Near the end of this extended work one would think James Bond has entered the room, but the whole work has a film score aesthetic. This is another long listen at 23 minutes. When I immerse myself into the work the time goes by quickly. Bryant’s use of electronics with the wind ensemble is creative and entrancing. Each listening brings on nuances I overlooked or failed to notice previously. I never imagined a band or wind ensemble could do this in the late 20th century.

Dusk (2004/rev. 2008) Here we have something shorter. An impressionistic work to capture the fading daylight at sunset. This work was written for less experienced players. It isn’t flashy in a rhythmic sense. As Bryant states: “…passionate evocation of dramatic stillness.” He uses creative orchestration development to capture the end of a day. Imagine standing on the docks at Key West, Florida USA and watching the sun slip below the watery horizon that feels endless or timeless. Here Bryant uses a smaller pallet of sounds and evokes a nice aesthetic for younger musicians. I enjoyed conducting this piece several times with different groups. Each performance gave me something different, despite the materials being the same. This is the beauty of a concert performance. Nuance always changes based on our venue, dynamics, and acoustics.

Concerto for Alto Saxophone(2014) Steven Bryant states in his program notes that he never really wanted to write a concerto. Then he was asked to write one for his own instrument, and the virtuoso player Joseph Lulloff. Bryant who likes to borrow something for every piece as a nod or reverence to a past musician or composer used the main motive from the Creston Sonata for Saxophone, and a borrowed snippet from the Corigliano Concerto for Clarinet. What he delivers in the composition is a linear, vertical, and conversational concerto that requires virtuosity from both the wind ensemble and soloist. The premiere performance video is on Bryant’s website. I really enjoy how Bryant uses the saxophones of the wind ensemble to frame the soloist. Most composers would diminish their role in a concerto like this. Bryant does the opposite. One of my favorite things about this concerto is the density of sound Bryant creates using the Creston motive as vertical cluster or linear line of development overlayed through sections. The uniqueness of the concerto in my opinion places a high expectation on the next composer to write a saxophone concerto. I played in a wind ensemble for a performance of the Ingolf Dahl Saxophone Concerto in college and I thought I heard everything creatively for the instrument… Then Steven Bryant came along.

If you are looking for a composer that makes you groove to danceable rhythms or funky melodies Steven Bryant is not your composer. If you are looking for sonic exploration and motivic development in dense or sparse textures you may find Steven Bryant is your composer. I’ve always enjoyed the creative energy from his works both new and old. Not every composer can write a hit every time. What they can do is explore where each motive takes them and extrapolate from there. I like that Steven revisits his music and revises it. He learns something new later that can improve something he did in the past. This keeps the music fresh. It remains an evolving organism, much like the music of Anton Bruckner. His artistry is not for everyone, but I do love those that take his work and make it shine.

Thanks for reading my attempt at a band composer blog. Thank you Steven for sharing your work with the world!