The Flexi-Collection - A new approach with learners in mind The Flexi-Collection Series for Training and Junior Brass Bands/Groups. This refreshing and thoughtful new flexible range of music is playable by 6-600 brass instrumentalists. Sympathetically arranged by Andrew Duncan, the current Popular Classics Series presents eight titles from the great classical composers, offering a fun and interesting range of musical styles. The Flexi-Collection is targeted at Training and Junior Brass Bands and school brass groups, but also lends itself well to bands of all standards that may require music for flexible instrumentation. Incorporating Andrew's own experience with the training/junior level player, each piece in the series provides clarity both in presentation and explanation. Each part includes rudimentary theory help on the reverse, all musical terminology is given a translation, playing range and rhythms are adjusted to maintain the style of the composer whilst ensuring they are appropriate for the level of ability of the player; world parts are supplied by default; each piece also incorporate optional percussion and a very easy Bb part to make the sets as inclusive as possible. To offer full flexibility to our customers, we have also introduced 'The Flexi-Collection Album' which offers a complete set of the series of eight titles with a saving of over 20% off the normal individual titles. [View available titles ...] A Hebridean Suite - Butlins 2010 1st Section Test Piece A HEBRIDEAN SUITE, composed by Andrew Duncan, is available to purchase through The Music Company (UK) Ltd. Purchase Now Of the test pieces selected for the 2010 Butlins Mineworkers Brass Band Festival, organiser Brian Eggleshaw commented: "We have chosen these works as our tribute to the younger composers and arrangers in the banding movement today. We believe that there is such a great amount of talent and quality out there that Butlins has a duty to encourage and promote the very best of what we have to offer." SPECIAL LIMITED TIME OPTION - SAVE ON POSTAGE COSTS! As a special option for those bands competing at Butlins 2009, if you pre-order your band set for 'A Hebridean Suite' by Monday 14 September, you can collect the music in person at the contest - your postage costs (charged at time of online ordering) will then be refunded to you upon collection of the music. Purchase Now Meet Us in Person at Harrogate on 26th & 27th September We are delighted to be attending the National Brass Band Championships of Great Britain for Section 1 - 4, being held on 26th and 27th September 2009 in Harrogate. Our tradestand will be at the end of the main tradeshow hall. We'll be pleased to introduce you to our catalogue, offer you sample scores to assess and help wherever we can with your wishlist of concert and contest pieces. We will also be offering a special offer at the show for band sets of 'Hebridean Suite' - the 1st Section test piece at the 2010 Butlins Mineworkers Brass Band Championships. Lucy Pankhurst Featured at BIC 2009 The Music Company (UK) Ltd wishes to offer their congratulations to Lucy Pankhurst for the premier of her new composition 'Wired' at the Brass In Concert 2009 competition in Gateshead on 15th November. The piece was included as the opening item in the innovative programme performed by The Leyland Band. The live comments from 4BarsRest.com offer a little insight in summarising the general feel of the work and how successfully it was received by the audience: "Leyland wired and firing on all cylinders to start. Great thumping backbeat . . . You crazy guys, Leyland!" Gregor Beattie - A New Talent Joins The Music Company Gregor Beattie is one of the latest new talents to join the family of writers at The Music Company (UK) Ltd. Gregor is currently studying a BMus Hons course at RSAMD in Glasgow with trumpet as his first study, and having studied composition under Tom David Wilson. This is also supplemented by additional studies in band orchestration, where his natural ability to score for brass band have already been developed to an extremely promising level. The Music Company (UK) Ltd are delighted to offer Gregor's first published work in the form of his beautiful and passionate arrangement of 'In The Bleak Midwinter' for brass band - a refreshing and inspirational version which brings a wonderful new dynamic to this traditional item on every band's Christmas concert programme. David Hext - A New Member of The Music Company Family The Music Company family is expanding again! We are extremely pleased to welcome David Hext as another new writer to the fold. During his musical career, David has played trumpet, cornet, euphonium and tuba before settling for percussion. He is now Section Principal of the world-famous, Manchester-based Hallé Orchestra, and has had a strong brass banding background having played with Bedford Town Band, Luton Band and GUS amongst many others. We welcome his debut composition for brass band, entitled 'Breakout Fanfare and Romance'. This is an ideal concert item which initially grabs the audience's attention and offers a beautifully scored slow section for the Romance section. An original composition which is a must-have for band concert programmes. New Works for the Learning and Developing Player Furthering our commitment to offering music to the developing player and band, The Music Company (UK) Ltd are delighted to feature some new titles which are targetted at the learning and developing player. One of our newer writers, Steve Robson, has brought to our catalogue a variety of works which cater for younger bands and soloists alike. These recent additions include 'Vindolanda' - Two Miniatures for Bb Cornet and Piano, 'Music Through the Ages' - a flexible 7 movement piece for youth band offering an imaginary journey through 2000 years of music with narration (playable as a complete work or as individual movements, with or without narration), and 'Ballad from Slidin Songs for Milly' - a simple but effective trombone solo with piano accompaniment. Soundfiles and sample scores are available by selecting the options for the individual pieces - simply use the Quicksearch to find the titles and enjoy these exciting new works for yourself. We are also delighted to draw your attention to Steve Robson's other works for more developed soloists, bands and ensembles, including 'St Thomas Suite' (quartet), 'Pioneers' (brass band), 'Bonny at Mourn' (trombone solo), 'One Wish' (Eb Bass solo) and 'BA Rock' (brass band). All these are available to purchase through The Music Company online shop. The Music Company Sponsors the Europeans 2009 The Music Company was once again an official sponsor of the European Brass Band Championships and was delighted to support the Performers' Choice Award for the Composer's Competition. We offer our congratulations to Kevin Houben from Belgium who was presented with The Music Company commemorative tankard after receiving the performing band's vote for his composition 'Rain'. [Read more . . .] The Music Company Welcomes Lucy Pankhurst The Music Company (UK) Ltd are delighted to welcome Lucy Pankhurst as one of their new writers and contributors to their music catalogue. Lucy is currently the composer-in-residence with the Wingates band, where she also plays solo horn. She has composed a number of pieces for the ensemble, including 'Wicked' and 'Dance, Dance' for the 2008 Great Northern Brass Festival at the Bridgewater Hall in Manchester. As a tenor horn player, Lucy is very keen to promote new music for the 'endangered species' of brass instruments and as a result has written works for Owen Farr, Tubalatè, Scherzo Brass and, most recently, the internationally renowned soloist, Katrina Marzella and 2008 Young Musician of the Year; trombonist Peter Moore. Lucy feels particularly influenced by folk music and particularly enjoys the challenge of composing for unusual instrumentation or subject matter, welcoming both contemporary and traditional ideas in her music. Her other musical influences are very diverse, ranging from Vaughn-Williams to Ligeti, Stevie Wonder to Radiohead, Muse, E.L.O. and even the film scores of Danny Elfman. We are extremely pleased to be publishing so many of Lucy's works through The Music Company, all of which can now be found in our 'Products' section (simply search for Lucy Pankhurst). We have also highlighted a number of recent additions in our 'New Releases and Featured Titles' section. The Music Company Sponsors the Europeans 2008 Once again The Music Company was an official sponsor of the European Brass Band Championships and was delighted to support the Performers' Choice Award for the Conductor's Contest. We offer our congratulations to Armin Renggli from Switzerland who was presented with the award banner after receiving the accompanying band's vote for his conducting skills during the competition. The full results for the Conductor's competition were: Wehr Mathias - 1st - Germany Renggli Armin - 2nd - Switzerland Grazinyté Mirga - 3rd - Lithuania Soloist Award at Europeans 2007 Clair Tomalin presents Lin Chin-Cheng with the Performer's Choice Award at the 2007 Soloist's Competition, through the European Brass Band Championships 2007. Lin's marimba solo mesmerised the audience and accompanying band alike, giving him a well deserved seal of approval from all involved. Grimethorpe Performs "Welsh Echoes" The new release, Welsh Echoes by Andrew Duncan was well received by band and audience alike at a concert in Wellingborough in April, performed by the world-famous Grimethorpe Colliery Band. The piece features 3 superb Welsh folk songs and cleverly entwines them with a feature for the Principal cornet with a beautifully scored version of David of the White Rock. The audience gave a very warm response, not least for the stunning performance the band itself made of the piece. It's a great new addition to the the brass band repertoire and Grimethorpe's rendition definitely establishes it as an ideal piece to freshen up your concert programme, whether you have celtic links or not! TP Music Now Distributed by The Music Company The Music Company are delighted to announce that they have become the new distributor for TP Music, the publishing house of Tim Paton. With the recent merge between Andrew Duncan's Lewis Music Press and The Music Company being so closely followed by this new distribution arrangement of TP Music's catalogue, it is demonstrative of the way in which The Music Company are embracing the commitments they wish to make to their writers and customers alike. The business is building a reputable music publishing house with clear objectives and strong beliefs, based on experience and a desire to break new ground. Clair Tomalin, Business Director commented: "After the initial launch of our new online shop (www.TheMusicCompanyShop.com) the next phase of the business' development was to ensure customers were presented with a central point to purchase all the music from all our writers, regardless of whether we are publishing it. This not only offers our writers more exposure by providing customers with a definitive list of all their published works, it also benefits the customers (both trade and retail) by offering a more streamlined and economical buying experience of their preferred writers' pieces. Obtaining the distribution rights of TP Music's catalogue is a significant step in achieving these goals." [Read More ...] Silverado Gains US Approval! Following its release, Silverado (arranged by Gareth Green) has gained transatlantic acclaim - The Brass Band of Battle Creek were delighted to feature it in their 2008 March showcase concert and confirmed that it was extremely well received by the enthusiastic audience. The Music Company Re-Dresses TP Music Titles Following the distribution developments between The Music Company and TPMusic, we are now delighted to inform you that all TP Music titles are now being formally published by The Music Company (UK) Ltd, including a livery overhaul and in-house production by us. Lewis Music Press Merges with The Music Company! Following Andrew Duncan's appointment last year as the company's Editorial Director, agreements are now in place for Andrew's own publishing house, Lewis Music Press, to merge with The Music Company (UK) Ltd. This amalgamation is deemed to be a highly positive move for both sides as it will now enable The Music Company to dramatically expand their catalogue bringing a further 80 titles to their collection, whilst enabling Andrew to focus on his editorial role, and writing and conducting career. The company has been working hard towards the launch of their latest catalogue and are delighted to be able to incorporate the exciting additions provided by the Lewis Music Press merge. As a result, all titles previously available through Lewis Music Press will now be accessible through The Music Company's online shop at www.themusiccompanyshop.com. "Andrew Duncan has been paramount in the development of The Music Company and his faith in its future is resounded by the move to merge his own catalogue of works with the organisation." Commented Clair Tomalin, Business Director of The Music Company. The Music Company has always strived to develop an organisation which will offer the world of music something new, both in content and presentation. The amalgamation of Lewis Music Press is being marked by an interactive catalogue. It is intended that through the use of technology, potential customers will have the ability to read detailed information about the catalogued pieces and their writers, view full sample scores, listen to midi files and purchase online effortlessly. It is also intended that each catalogue release will be available as an interactive CD-Rom or as a downloadable program from the new online shop. The Music Company are extremely excited about the publishing of Andrew's best selling book - 'Scoring and Arranging for Brass Band', and look forward to promoting a host of brass band titles, some highlights of which include Alan Morrison's '1941 March', Gareth Green's 'March from Colditz', Philip Harper's 'Water of Tyne' and Andrew Duncan's 'A Suffolk Prelude' and 'Zephyrus - The Big Blow March'. The company has also recognised the ongoing demand for music for ensembles and flexible instrumentation and are pleased to be developing these with new and established writers. Of special note are 'Summer - from A Victorian Kitchen Garden' for brass quintet and 'La Danza' for 10 piece, both of which have been arranged by Steven Drury. The Flexi-Collection Series is also now fully developed - This refreshing new flexible ensemble concept based on 4-part harmony, is targeted at Junior Brass and Concert bands, but lends itself well to bands of all standards requiring music for flexible instrumentation. The initial launch includes collections themed as 'Last Night at the Proms', 'Popular Classics' and three volumes of Christmas titles. One of the key interests for this collection is the ability for customers to compile their own Flexi-Collection album, where any six titles can be selected from the complete Flexi-Collection Series which are then printed to order to create a bespoke collection of music with a significant financial saving. A comprehensive number of new titles are also in the pipeline for release shortly, which will offer bands a broad range of styles to freshen up their forthcoming concert and contest programmes. The merge of The Music Company and Lewis Music Press, together with the launch of their online shop and exciting developments with new and established writers will now offer bands around the world an ideal resource for their music needs. The Music Company - passionate about making music Launch of Our Online Shop We are delighted to launch the new online shop for The Music Company. This interactive and informative shop has been designed to offer our customers an enjoyable purchasing experience, with an easy to navigate facility offering a range of payment options. It is intended that through the use of technology, potential customers will have the ability to read detailed information about the catalogued pieces and their writers, view full sample scores, listen to midi files/soundbytes and purchase online effortlessly. It is also intended that each catalogue release will be available as an interactive CD-Rom or as a downloadable program from this new online shop.