Flugelhorn Solo

This piece was commissioned by Joe Smith in the fall of 2024 and went through several iterations before its current form. The original concept was for a flugelhorn solo with a modern style backing track for accompaniment, and to be more of a technical piece than the more typical lyrical ballad. Both of those elements have remained true throughout the process, but it also expanded to include learning about working within Logic Pro on automations and MIDI, and various ways of digitally processing a flugelhorn sound both live and after being recorded. Shout out to Jacob Beinborn for his technical and musical contributions with the backing track (notably the percussion/digital sound design elements within the track and the initial flugel processing ideas), and Caleb Alexander for his technical expertise and final mastering of the tracks.

The title of “To The Forefront” comes from a shared history Joe and I have with the Santa Clara Vanguard; Joe marched there and I taught there for almost a decade, and we both like the idea that the name vanguard implies being at the leading edge of things. I won’t claim anything in this piece is truly groundbreaking, but it was definitely fun to explore new ideas and compositional processes and it also led to a general progression throughout the piece from more pure acoustic-based sounds to more processed and digital ones.

Performance Notes:
While written originally for flugelhorn, the piece is equally suited for trumpet or cornet and I would be eager to hear interpretations using those instruments.

The idea of digitally processing the flugel sound was definitely a part of the plan for the piece, but you should not feel obligated to include this aspect in your own performance. If you do want to include digital processing as part of your performance, there are a few options listed in the score notes.

Note - When ordering, the backing track will be sent separately to ensure the most appropriate format is provided. Feel free to reach out in advance to discuss options.

Below is a sample recording, as well as links to a sample score and ordering information.  All charts are available with alterations to instrumentation, backing click tracks for virtual performance options, and Smartmusic files.  Please feel free to reach out with any questions or requests via the contact form!