Artistry First
 

BALLERBACH CONSORTIUM COMMISSIONING PROJECT

MISSION
In an effort to contribute to the creation and publication of new music Ballerbach Music has initiated the Ballerbach Consortium Commissioning Project.  Every two years a composer will be selected by Ballerbach Music to compose a new work. A consortium will be organized by Ballerbach Music to fund the project.
 

FIRST COMMISSION
The first $5,000. BCCP commission was awarded to John Frantzen of Silver Spring, Maryland. His new 14 minute work, titled Pater Noster for Wind Ensemble, was written in response to the events of 9/11. Completed in the summer of 2002 the work will be premiered this fall and spring by the following 10 commissioners:

California State University at Long Beach, Long Beach, California.  John Carnahan, conductor.
Concordia University, River Forest, Illinois.  Richard Fischer, conductor.
Florida State University, Tallahassee, Florida.  Patrick Dunnigan, conductor.
Salisbury State University, Salisbury, Maryland.  Richard Johnson, conductor.
Southwest Texas State University, San Marcos, Texas.  John Stansberry, conductor.
Trinity University, San Antonio, Texas.  James Worman, conductor.
University of Tennessee at Martin, Martin, Tennessee.  Gregg Gausline, conductor.
University of Texas at Arlington, Arlington, Texas.  Ray Lichtenwalter, conductor.
University of Wisconsin at Milwaukee, Milwaukee, Wisconsin.  Thomas Dvorak, conductor.
Williams College, Williamstown, Massachusetts.  Steven Bodner, conductor.

THE COMPOSER
John Frantzen (b.1964) was born and raised in Maquoketa, Iowa, and is a graduate of Arizona State University where he studied trombone and instrumental music. He has studied privately with W.A. Mathieu, author of "The Harmonic Experience", John Heiss at the New England Conservatory of Music and Randal Shinn at Arizona State University. He is also the composer of Poem for Wind Ensemble, published by Ballerbach. He currently resides in Silver Spring, Maryland.

See the INTERVIEWS page for more on John Frantzen and his new work Pater Noster.
 

NEXT COMMISSION
The next BCCP commission will be in 2004 for the creation of a new choral work.
 
 

Established in 1998 by composer James Syler, Ballerbach Music is a print music publishing company that features a unique catalog of choral, wind ensemble and band works. Rather than maintaining a roster of contracted writers, the catalog seeks out individual works based solely on their artistic and compositional merit. Currently the catalog represents the music of more than 25 contemporary composers. Ballerbach is a publisher member of ASCAP, BMI and the Music Publishers Association.