BandQuest

BandQuest [http://www.bandquest.org] is a series of band music for middle-level band commissioned and published by the American Composers Forum, a national non-profit composer service organization based in Saint Paul, Minnesota. The series is exclusively distributed by Hal Leonard Corporation based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

The idea for BandQuest began in 1995 after a national survey of music educators conducted by the American Composers Forum revealed a need for fresh music for young bands. Many young performers lack the technical ability to play pieces by more established composers. To fill this need, American Composers Forum initially commissioned ten composers to write new works, and created accompanying CD-ROM curricula to support five of those ten works. The CD-ROMs provide an interdisciplinary approach to learning music and teaches students (and their teachers) about the great composers who are living today, including:

Libby Larsen's "Hambone,"

Thomas C. Duffy's "A+: A 'Precise' Prelude and an 'Excellent' March,"

Chen Yi's "Spring Festival"

Brent Michael Davids' "Grandmother Song,"

Alvin Singleton's "Ridgeview Centrum,"

Adolphus Hailstork's "New Wade 'n Water,"

Tania Leon's "Alegre,"

Judith Lang Zaimont's "City Rain,"

Robert Xavier Rodriguez' "Smash the Windows,"

Michael Colgrass's "Old Churches,"

Michael Daugherty's "Alligator Alley,"

Jennifer Higdon's "Rhythm Stand,"

Stephen Paulus' "Mosaic,"
and the latest edition in the series, Gunther Schuller's "Nature's Way."

Current efforts on the BandQuest series involve identifying additional support for additional commissions and enhancing the website to provide more curriculum, tools for teachers, and games for students.

BandQuest Overview

BandQuest, an exciting approach to middle level band education, offers fresh, new music written by world-class composers. The product of extensive research with hundreds of music teachers and students, this program presents new works that engage young people, giving them the opportunity to truly experience the varied music and cultures of our time. The series incorporates innovative and interdisciplinary curriculum that meets the National Standards for Arts Education.

Composers Joes NANA IS Fit

The composers are a diverse group, and every composer worked in residence with a local school during the creation of their piece. This interaction between students and the composers has highlighted the value of these collaborations; during their residencies both students and composers learned from each other. The composers, who typically write for professional ensembles, learned how to write for amateur musicians, and the students learned much from the composers. For example, Chen Yi told students about her experiences in Chinese prison camps; allowed to bring a violin but no written music, she began to compose works of her own. Many of the composers have emphasized that their music transmits their cultural and historical heritage, and they have encouraged students to draw inspiration from their own life experiences.

CD-ROM and Web-Based Curricula

Written to be fun, interesting, and memorable for students and teachers, our expert team of educators developed a series of interdisciplinary curriculum that complements and enriches each BandQuest piece. Incorporating the National Standards in Arts Education and based on the facets model for arts education, the CD-ROM curriculum helps students learn the music and connects it with other aspects of life and learning. For example, the curriculum for Brent Michael David’s piece includes an in-depth exploration of historical and current Native American musical styles, and includes pictures, video clips, and audio examples. American Composers Forum has begun the process of developing web-based materials for the entire series that will soon replace the CD-ROM format.

BandQuest History

BandQuest formally began in March 1997, developed by the American Composers Forum through a two-year research process, in consultation with dozens of artists and educators. In an early survey, music educators told the Forum:

*Works for young students must be musically interesting and technically challenging if they are to hold students’ attention and motivate them to learn more about the music and their instruments.
*The music itself is what students respond to most, followed by stories about the music and, coming in a very distant third, familiarity.

Since that time the Forum has established National and Regional Advisory Committees for the project, contracted 14 composers for commissions, and retained key personnel for the positions of Music Editor and Curriculum Editor, as well as additional curriculum writers.

The resulting product is a radical approach to creating, disseminating and teaching music for middle school bands. Fourteen diverse and celebrated American composers, including Tania Leon, Chen Yi, Brent Michael Davids, Libby Larsen, and others are collaborating with selected school band teachers to develop music that is not only age-appropriate for middle-level bands, but challenging and interesting as well.

The new pieces represent the immense range and richness of America’s musical traditions and styles: jazz, ethnic, folk and theater music, as well as “classical” works.

New Band Horizons vs. New Horizons Band

BandQuest originally began as "New Band Horizons," but this title was too close to the national band group for senior performers titled "New Horizons Band." Shortly before publication the title of the series was changed to BandQuest. Note that the historical documents in this entry refer to the program as "New Band Horizons" instead of its current name.

1995 Survey of Music Educators

Results of 1995 Music Educator Survey
With a grant from the Bush Foundation, the Forum conducted extensive research with hundreds of music teachers, members of MENC (Music Educators National Conference), to determine how we might best utilize our resources to support music education. Of the numerous responses received, 84.4% were submitted by veteran band teachers—majorities of who teach at the intermediate level in public schools nationwide.

The results from the survey and interviews showed that teachers have been searching for middle level band music, which challenges their students and provides supplemental materials to enhance learning and experiences with music. The highest-ranking responses included requests for ensemble works with:
• related theory and historical materials;
• related methods exercises;
• music with flexible instrumentation;
• music that introduces current notation, melodic and harmonic elements;
• sample recordings of the music and similar pieces;
• multi-cultural music;
• music that is relevant to/interests the student;
• activities that engage many of the senses;
• information about the composer with photos;
• a teachers guide;
• a bibliography and information for further study;
• interesting facts; and
• visuals and technology that embrace the students’ “MTV” “computer-age” culture.

Following a year of research and study, the final report resulted in a 32-page detailed document. The research and study evaluation was conducted by educational consultant Larry Siegel and marketing consultant Wendy Lukaszewski.

The Process

“Haydn, Mozart, and Beethoven wrote a lot of simple music for amateurs without ‘dumbing down.’ The question: Am I a good enough composer to write a simple theme that can be genuinely exciting, the way the great masters did? Well, this project was the most humbling of any I’ve had as a composer. I think writing for kids’ bands should be a required project in our university composition programs. Writing for eighth grade band is like walking in four-pound shoes: If you can move gracefully with the weight on your feet, you’ll fly when you put on the four-ounce runners.”— Michael Colgrass, BandQuest composer

The BandQuest series is unique in that the commissions involve an interactive residency between the composer and the students who will perform their music. This kind of collaboration becomes a two-way learning process: the composer, used to working with professional ensembles, learns how to write music for young bands that is still interesting and engaging to play and listen to, and the students gain the experience of working with and learning from a world-class composer.

BandQuest Advanced

BandQuest Advanced launched in fall 2006 as a way to showcase the pieces in the series for more experienced bands. The pieces included in the subseries of BandQuest Advanced include Gunther Schuller's "Nature's Way," Robert Xavier Rodriguez' "Smash the Windows," and Judith Lang Zaimont's "City Rain."