Jurassic Parc Brass Unfinished

The Master Singers
Dr. Gary R. Schwartzhoff, conductor 

In my personal opinion, there is nothing more beautiful about the Chippewa Valley (located in northwestern Wisconsin) than its colors in the fall. October Song, a poem written by Wisconsin Poet Laureate Max Garland for The Master Singers’ 22nd concert season, is a poem inspired by the colors and divine beauty that is within this valley.

I have always found peace and inspiration in the sites that surround me in Eau Claire. From the sun’s first golden rays glistening and dancing on rapids of the Chippewa River, to the silence of the night with its cool and soft stars watching over me. The beauty of this land is unmistakable. Although fall is covered in the warmth and richness of its lush golden colors, it is easy to forget how chilling it can be. Have you ever noticed how beautiful yet fragile the leaves of fall are?  How easy they crumble in one’s hands to dust….  Such is life

In the fall at UW -Eau Claire, WI.
In the fall at UW -Eau Claire, WI.

When going through a day-to-day routine it is easy to take the blessings of ones life for granted. Just as the golden leaves of fall are fragile so is ones soul. It is important for anyone to take a moment to step back and enjoy the delicate colors that surround their life. Think of friends and family and the laughs that you share with those few special individuals. Let that fill your soul and give life and purpose to what you do. Before you know it, the leaves of this tree called life will be falling as winters sting comes. So I leave you with this question, how many colors and leaves will be on your tree before your leaves fall?

-Zachary J. Moore

- See more at: http://zacharyjmoore.com/compositions/satb/october-song/#sthash.y9Nc2cYx.dpuf

October Song

An epic take on this traditional carol fitting for the gods of myth and legend...

Bells Of Valhalla ("Carol of the Bells" Fantasy)

A setting of this traditional holiday carol arranged for 2 trumpets, horn, trombone and tuba.

Deck The Halls - Brass Quintet

Commissioned by Dr. Jack Stamp as the concert opener for his final concert at Indiana University of Pennsylvania on April 26, 2015. He served as director of bands there for 25 years, and was a student for 4 years. 

PRELUDE TO SOMETHING BIG (World Premiere)

The Bob Cole Conservatory Chamber Choir under the direction of Dr. Jonathan Talberg performs Vasken Ohanian's "Song of the Knight", set to poetry by Siamanto, in remembrance of the 100 year anniversary of the Armenian Genocide.

Purchase scores at: www.vaskenohanian.com/store/choral/vo0008

Song of the Knight (ԱՍՊԵՏԻՆ ԵՐՔԸ)- Siamanto
Verses 32-36 (English Translation)

O raise your brow, lift up your eyes, so that I may cover them with my hands,
Halt not! It is the Crimson, it is the Crimson, the Crimson of frightful blood.
I have pulled my quivering cloak over my head...
Halt not! What good would it do for our useless sighs of grief?

My lyre cried with the blood of the times, accompanying my pains,
From this moment on, I loath weeping;  Only you are my spirit.
You are glorious and bellicose, I am your prince and slave.
It was "your" figure that was worshipped by glorious Greece...

The song of the wind is a horn that calls from afar,
The forest stood ready like legions of war.
Under your furious hooves, old hopes like giants awake...
The old laws are shattered, the old tears fall, the old sounds die...

In your brilliant flight from atop high plateau
We will see new revolutionaries, new giants, new heroes,
The sons of suffereing, who inimically in this age
Were born in blood, were wroth with blood, and wish to die in blood.

And when we see the hurricane of stormy legions,
It is with them that we will march on the path to the Cause...
And of glory will I sing and the crowning of warriors,
For my trumpet will sound, and my torches will be ablaze.

Song Of The Knight

Composed by Charlie Smalls. Arranged by Anthony O'Toole. Conducted by Kurt Curtis.  From SCBC's "Salute to Broadway” concert on 5/3/2025 at Bay Shore Community Church, Long Beach, CA.

Overture to “The Wiz“

Composed by Jerry Goldsmith. Arranged by Anthony O'Toole. Conducted by Hector Salazar. Recorded live on 5/6/2018 at Los Altos United Methodist Church, Long Beach, CA.

The Wind and the Lion

Irish Tune from County Derry
Percy Aldridge Grainger
TBC: The Brass Choir
Jeffrey de Seriere, Guest Conductor
July 11th, 2012


Irish Tune from County Derry

"Sylvan Spirits" is a piece for orchestra and narrator.  The text of the piece consists of three poems, Anne Brontë's "Lines Composed in a Wood on a Windy Day", Rudyard Kipling's "The Way Through the Woods", and Robert Frost's "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening".


Lines Composed in a Wood on a Windy Day

My soul is awakened, my spirit is soaring
And carried aloft on the wings of the breeze;
For above and around me the wild wind is roaring,
Arousing to rapture the earth and the seas.

The long withered grass in the sunshine is glancing,
The bare trees are tossing their branches on high;
The dead leaves, beneath them, are merrily dancing,
The white clouds are scudding across the blue sky.

I wish I could see how the ocean is lashing
The foam of its billows to whirlwinds of spray;
I wish I could see how its proud waves are dashing,
And hear the wild roar of their thunder today!




The Way Through the Woods
by Rudyard Kipling

They shut the road through the woods
Seventy years ago.
Weather and rain have undone it again,
And now you would never know
There was once a road through the woods
Before they planted the trees.
It is underneath the coppice and heath,
And the thin anemones.
Only the keeper sees
That, where the ring-dove broods,
And the badgers roll at ease,
There was once a road through the woods.

Yet, if you enter the woods
Of a summer evening late,
When the night-air cools on the trout-ringed pools
Where the otter whistles his mate.
(They fear not men in the woods,
Because they see so few)
You will hear the beat of a horse's feet,
And the swish of a skirt in the dew,
Steadily cantering through
The misty solitudes,
As though they perfectly knew
The old lost road through the woods....
But there is no road through the woods.




Stopping By Woods on a Snowy Evening
by Robert Frost

Whose woods these are I think I know.
His house is in the village though;
He will not see me stopping here
To watch his woods fill up with snow.

My little horse must think it queer
To stop without a farmhouse near
Between the woods and frozen lake
The darkest evening of the year.

He gives his harness bells a shake
To ask if there is some mistake.
The only other sound's the sweep
Of easy wind and downy flake.

The woods are lovely, dark and deep.
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep.

Sylvan Spirits

Founded in 2013, the Southern California Brass Consortium (SCBC) grew out of the desire to form a large, professional brass ensemble that performs challenging, yet accessible music. Our 26-member group performs a wide range of compositions and styles, as well as presenting works that include harp, piano, and organ. SCBC not only includes talented brass players and percussionists, but also highly-skilled arrangers and composers within its ranks. We strive to present both new works and new arrangements by local and national composers. The goal of the SCBC is to share the exhilarating spirit of brass ensemble music through high-quality concerts, recordings, and educational outreach. SCBC recently had the honor of opening the 55th L.A. County Holiday Celebration at the Los Angeles Music Center on Christmas Eve, which was televised live on PBS.

Overture to “The Wiz“

So Cal Brass Consortium

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