This is a recording of the updated score with full instrumentation. Engage your school pianists in your band with this work that offers many opportunities for cross-curricular learning. Enjoy :)

Into The Sun - live recording

EMOTIONAL CONNECTION: Falling Action → Resolution
Kudnu witnesses the first sunrise on Earth. There is peace at last.

ENSEMBLE FOCUS: Whole band. A lyrical piece featuring the full band in a more traditional setting with extended orchestration.

PERFORMING & RECORDING ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
University of Minnesota Wind Ensemble: Professor Craig Kirchhoff, conductor
Jerry Luckhardt and Ingrid Martin, Producer
Phillip O'Toole, Recording Engineer and Post-Production Supervisor

Belah Sun Woman: V - Light the Earth

EMOTIONAL CONNECTION: Defining the character of the protagonist, Kundu Lizard Man

ENSEMBLE FOCUS: Woodwind. Brass players support and enhance percussion ostinato patterns with spoken phrases and body percussion.


PERFORMING & RECORDING ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
University of Minnesota Wind Ensemble: Professor Craig Kirchhoff, conductor
Jerry Luckhardt and Ingrid Martin, Producer
Phillip O'Toole, Recording Engineer and Post-Production Supervisor

Belah Sun Woman: III - Kundu Lizard Man

10 seconds of silence to use in your playlists when teaching Belah Sun Woman.

10 Seconds Of Silence

30 seconds of silence to use in your playlists when teaching Belah Sun Woman. use this track twice in a row to achieve 60 seconds of silence.

30 seconds Of Silence

Recorded and performed by Dr. Scott A. Jones, Phillip Day and the Ohio State University Symphonic Band

NOTES
In Lessons from Mother Earth, I was inspired by the First People’s Principles of *Learning, with a particular focus on the principles centred on mentoring:
*Learning involves generational roles and responsibilities.
*Learning ultimately supports the well-being of the self, the family, the community, the land, the spirits, and the ancestors.
*Learning is holistic, reflexive, reflective, experiential, and relational (focused on connectedness, on reciprocal relationships, and a sense of place).

Hence, in addition to cross-curricular prospects, this work also offers an opportunity to build a relationship between local ‘feeder’ elementary schools and the middle school/high school band program. So often, we overlook the power of mentoring, at any age. 

The melody used in this piece has been deliberately written in an easy singing range for young students. The goal being that K-2 students learn to sing the melody used in the work, and do this whilst also studying the book and learning about sustainability (teaching resources linked below).

The culmination of the unit would be to attend a concert given by their local middle/high school band, hearing ‘Lessons from Mother Earth’ performed live (a piece they are already familiar with). Students could participate in the ‘windy soundscapes’ and potentially connect after the performance, either by reading books together, demonstrating instruments or some other activity that promotes mentoring and connectedness.

Blackshaw Lessons From Mother Earth: Movement 1

Recorded and performed by Dr. Scott A. Jones, Phillip Day and the Ohio State University Symphonic Band

NOTES
In Lessons from Mother Earth, I was inspired by the First People’s Principles of Learning, with a particular focus on the principles centred on mentoring:
*Learning involves generational roles and responsibilities.
*Learning ultimately supports the well-being of the self, the family, the community, the land, the spirits, and the ancestors.
*Learning is holistic, reflexive, reflective, experiential, and relational (focused on connectedness, on reciprocal relationships, and a sense of place).

Hence, in addition to cross-curricular prospects, this work also offers an opportunity to build a relationship between local ‘feeder’ elementary schools and the middle school/high school band program. So often, we overlook the power of mentoring, at any age. 

The melody used in this piece has been deliberately written in an easy singing range for young students. The goal being that K-2 students learn to sing the melody used in the work, and do this whilst also studying the book and learning about sustainability (teaching resources linked below).

The culmination of the unit would be to attend a concert given by their local middle/high school band, hearing ‘Lessons from Mother Earth’ performed live (a piece they are already familiar with). Students could participate in the ‘windy soundscapes’ and potentially connect after the performance, either by reading books together, demonstrating instruments or some other activity that promotes mentoring and connectedness.

Blackshaw Lessons From Mother Earth: Movement 2

Grade 4.5
5 minutes
Wind Symphony
Performed by the St. Olaf Band, Erika Svanoe conducting

PROGRAM NOTES
'Vulnerable Joy' is inspired by the self-sacrifice, commitment and humility of the mother Humpback whale. As a mammal, baleen whale, she grows to approx. 16m (52 ft) and lives at the ocean's surface in order to breath. She travels up to 6, 500km (approx. 4,000miles) from her feeding ground to birth her calf in warmer tropical waters. Once she leaves the feeding grounds of Antarctica or the cooler oceans of the Northern Hemisphere, she will not feed again until she returns some 8-9 months later. All the while, nursing her newborn calf with up to 600 litres (132 gallons) of milk per day.
In realising the enormity of this feat, my mind turned to the whales who are closest to me, those who migrate along the East coast of Australia from Tonga to Antarctica. I imagined the sheer relief she must feel in that moment when the cool waters of the Southern Ocean rub her skin for the first time. She is tired and hungry but in that moment (in my imagination), I feel her joy, her intense, overwhelming joy.  
 
During the opening and closing of the performance, you may here the instrumentalists murmuring some words. This ‘chant’ is made up of word fragments from eight different languages. The fragments used come from translations of the following words/phrases: “Welcome”, “Peace be with you”, “Live long and prosper”, “Love”. The colour and beauty of these translated words has been used not to create a direct translation of these English phrases, but to provide a link between the humpback whales’ intelligent communication capability and our inability to understand them. For if we could, I feel sure they would be sending us a very clear message: please allow us to live our lives in peace, love, prosperity and beautiful, awe-inspiring, vulnerable joy.

Vulnerable Joy

Taken from Book Four of the Teaching Performance through Composition series, the students of UNF and their Director Erin Bodnar had a lot of fun putting together their own version of this material. 

The title means "Today this place is full of noise and jollity" - a phrase from the language of the revered Tembo family clan of Zimbabwe (shared with permission).

Nhasi Pano Pamakuwerere

Grade 2.5
Performed by the University of Western Carolina Wind Symphony.
Conducted by Dr. Margaret Underwood. 

“..into the blue stretch of light..” is inspired by the life cycle of the Gang Gang and other black cockatoos. When researching information for this piece, I happened upon a remarkable piece of footage taken by citizen scientists from the Canberra Ornithologists Group. The footage shows a juvenile male Gang Gang taking his first flight. I have since learned that this is (currently), one of only two Gang Gang fledging’s caught on camera. From here, my thoughts turned to nurturing, nesting and the enduring love and support offered by parents to their young ones. Hence the piece commences with small and still moments and develops to reflect the growth of the juvenile from their first flight into adulthood. A chance encounter renewed the Judith Wright poem “Black Cockatoos” to me and this flourished the ending of the work into a rousing soundscape. It is hoped the piece captures the wild nature of Australian cockatoos, their boldness, dignity and courage whilst celebrating the life of Jim and Nell Stenning and parents everywhere who encourage their children to fly.

..into the blue stretch of light...

Grade 2.5
Performed by the University of Western Carolina Wind Symphony. 
Conducted by Dr. Margaret Underwood. 

“The Little Bush Buddha” is be listened to as if you, the audience, are the koala. The piece begins with an immersion of Australian bush sounds that are then interrupted by a passing car. The band emerges from these man-made sounds and erupts into a noisy, invasive scene (just as it would seem to the koala when earthmoving equipment moves in to urbanise a previously untouched landscape). From here, the piece changes mood. There IS hope for the koala, we just need to provide corridors for them to pass through our urban areas safely. The lulling chorale, reflective of the koalas sleepy disposition, softens the mood and demonstrates what is possible if we work to live alongside our native flora and fauna. 

Program notes provide QR codes to websites that will enable audience members to make a difference in their own way.

The Little Bush Buddha

Ensemble: UGA Wind Ensemble
Conductor: Jaclyn Hartenberger
National CBDNA performance 2024

Commissioned by: the University of British Columbia Conducting Symposium Consortium, Symposium hosted by Dr. Robert Taylor, consortium led by Janet Wade.

Dedicated to: Dr. Craig Kirchhoff

Programme notes:
Peace Dancer is inspired by the First Nations text of the same name by Roy Henry Vickers (Squamish Nation). In the words of the author:

“The story Peace Dancer is about a song and dance that is thousands of years old originating from the time of the flood. Songs have been composed for different Chiefs up and down the Pacific northwest coast. The Chief who is chosen to do this sacred dance is recognized as a healer in each community and the songs and dances are a reminder of the great flood and how the people lost their way and their love for all things in creation. During the dance there is a time when the dancer shakes eagle down from their headdress to remind people of the flood.”

Whilst this text afforded many music making opportunities, the composer chose to focus on one moment:

“We have really lost our way, we have not taught out children love and respect”.

This is achieved by dividing this short piece into ‘moments’: meditation – awakening – realization – humility. It takes you, the audience on an emotional journey, similar to realizing you have been in the wrong; maybe you have been unkind or acted in a way that does not become you? Once you realize the consequence of your actions, remorse and the understanding that there is a need to move forward with humility and grace follows. Thus is the lesson of Peace Dancer.

Peace Dancer

This is an excerpt from the work touching on the overwhelming and often debilitating emotion that we know as grief.

PROGRAM NOTE:
‘Soul-ström’ started out as a composition about a solitary man seeking his lost love who had been missing for years. It featured a narrator who told a dramatic story about a freak, alien storm that used the energy of people to fuel its fury.  The man’s lost love was inside this storm, and only when he too had been sucked inside, did he rediscover her beauty and grace which delivered both of them to freedom.

Half way through the composition, it became apparent that the story, also created by myself, was indeed an allegory pertaining to my very own struggle with depression and grief. The lost love was my lost life and the storm, the epitome of the depth of my depression.

In realisation of this, the work grew and changed shape, the narrator’s role became less important and the compositional process became a passionate, cathartic experience.

What began as a programmatic work based around a storm, a desperate man and the search for his lost love, became so much more. I hope it will touch hearts and help another find freedom.


Soulstrom - Chorale: 'The Grief'

UWEC Bands - Dr. John Stewart conducting

Lots of percussionists? Solo opportunities? Focus on balance?

Find out more here: http://www.jodieblackshaw.com/#!earthshine/c1xu3


Earthshine

Performed by Norwest Wind Ensemble
Conductor: James Brice
After Praetorius

Terpsichorean Dances

Performed by the University of British Columbia Wind Symphony
Conductor by Dr. Robert Taylor

Peace Dancer is inspired by the First Nations text of the same name by Roy Henry Vickers (Squamish Nation). In the words of the author:
“The story Peace Dancer is about a song and dance that is thousands of years old originating from the time of the flood. Songs have been composed for different Chiefs up and down the Pacific Northwest coast. The Chief who is chosen to do this sacred dance is recognized as a healer in each community and the songs and dances are a reminder of the great flood and how the people lost their way and their love for all things in creation. During the dance there is a time when the dancer shakes eagle down from their headdress to remind people of the flood.” 
Whilst this text afforded many music making opportunities, the composer chose to focus on one moment:

	“We have really lost our way, we have not taught out children love and respect”.

This is achieved by dividing this short piece into ‘moments’: meditation – awakening – realization – humility. It takes you, the audience, on an emotional journey, similar to realizing you have been in the wrong; maybe you have been unkind or acted in a way that does not become you. Once you realize the consequence of your actions, remorse and the understanding that there is a need to move forward with humility and grace follows. Thus is the lesson of Peace Dancer.

Catango 5 is a playful, tango-inspired work composed especially for International Grammar School senior wind ensemble and the Nexas Saxophone Quartet. Instead of taking a more traditional concerto grosso viewpoint with this work (ie solo quartet with accompanying ensemble), I have placed the quartet under the guise of mentors and infused much of their playing alongside that of the ensemble. The four gentlemen in the Nexas Saxophone Quartet have vibrant personalities and this is most certainly demonstrated in their approach to playing the saxophone. With this in mind, components of this work are built around imaginary feline characters largely inspired by the personality traits observed in the 5 cats I have owned in this lifetime.  

Placing personality into your playing can be a challenging aspect of musicianship hence, I have written the work with mentoring opportunities between Nexas and the wind band players by way of Soprano, Alto, Tenor and Bass voicings that work in cohesion. Nexas players thus have the opportunity through this work to work alongside high school players and help them break through an all-important membrane: finding a freedom in their instrumental approach that is both expressive and personal. At the centre of the work is a vibrant, virtuosic moment for the quartet to shine with all players on Soprano Saxophone. This represents the feline dream state – a place to be safe and free. 

Conductor: Ms Jo Heaton
Ensemble: Eltham High School Wind Ensemble
Sax Quartet: Joseph Lallo quartet

Catango 5 for pro sax quartet and grade 4 wind ensemble

Earthshine has been revised!! I don't have a full recording yet but this will give you a better idea of the space soundscape effect which includes ACTUAL space sounds as recorded by NASA.

Earthshine revised - Jodie Blackshaw

Performing and Composing Ensemble: University of British Columbia Wind Symphony
Conductor: Dr. Rob Taylor

13 Moons is a set of four "composing" pieces. Each piece is composed by the Band Director and their students. Pitch material is supplied and collectively, the ensemble composes with form, texture, timbre and expressive techniques to create their own piece. EVERY time it is a world première.

Published by Murphy Music Press: http://murphymusicpress.com/products/w-320

13 Moons - Sample composition: East

13 Moons - Sample composition: South

Performing and Composing Ensemble: University of British Columbia Summer Music Institute Senior Concert Band (2017)
Conductor: Dr. Rob Taylor

13 Moons is a set of four "composing" pieces. Each piece is composed by the Band Director and their students. Pitch material is supplied and collectively, the ensemble composes with form, texture, timbre and expressive techniques to create their own piece. EVERY time it is a world première.

Published by Murphy Music Press: http://murphymusicpress.com/products/w-320

UBC Summer Music Institute 2017 - Senior Concert Band

13 Moons - Sample performance: North

Simon Reade Conducting the Hobart Wind Symphony

The first in a series of works designed to celebrate the forgotten female French Impressionist artist Berth Morisot(1841-1895). This piece, for Grade 2 wind band, was Inspired by the painting "The Harbor at Lorient".

Majesty by Jodie Blackshaw

The Blessing of Light is the opening movement of Symphony No. 1 and depicts the birth of the Sun. The movement is an emotional reaction to a prayer written by Australian poet and political commentator Michael Leunig. The prayer was written in celebration of the arrival of Summer, the title of the movement is a quote from the prayer itself. 

This recording was the world premiere performance conducted by Dr. John Lynch with the Sydney Conservatorium of Music Wind Symphony in March 2019.

The Blessing of Light - Fanfare Edition

The Creation of Faith is the final movement of the Symphony and depicts the return of rejuvenating Spring after the gruelling cold of Winter. It is an emotional response to a prayer for Spring's return written by Australian poet and political commentator Michael Leunig. In the prayer, Leunig encourages us to restore our faith in humanity just as a bird faithfully rebuilds its nest. 

Recording taken from the world premiere performance conducted by Dr. John Lynch and the Sydney Conservatorium Wind Symphony.

The Creation Of Faith (the Spring)

The full suite "Salon Morisot" (The Morisot Salon/Exhibition). Three movements depicting a period of change in the life of French Impressionist artist Berthe Morisot. 

All movements are suitable to a Grade 2 ensemble. Particularly well suited to ensembles populated with mature-age students. 

Hobart Wind Symphony, Simon Reade Conducting

Salon Morisot: Majesty - Devotion - Enchantment

Grade 5
Published by Murphy Music Press Inc. 
Conducted by Brad Genevro
Performed by the University of Texas (El Paso) Wind Symphony
Learn more here: https://www.jodieblackshaw.com/peace-dancer

Conducted by Professor Dennis Fisher
Performed by the University of North Texas Symphonic Winds

www.jodieblackshaw.com

PROGRAM NOTES
Soul-ström was originally a work of music theatre based around a tale of a solitary individual lost in the center of a storm. The work originally featured a narrator who told the dramatic story of a freak, alien storm that used the energy of people to fuel its fury. In the center of the storm, a lone person was searching for their lost love and locked inside its fury was the key to freedom: the beauty and grace of love itself.
 
About halfway through the composition it became apparent that this original story was indeed an allegory pertaining to my very own struggle with depression and grief over the loss of my beloved Father in 1997.  In the story, the lost love was revealed as my lost life and the storm, the epitome of the depth of my depression suffered since his passing.  In realization of this, the work transformed and the narrator’s role is now completely non-existent.
 
Beginning with resignation and a still misty morning, the lost soul recalls painful memories which slowly enter consciousness. Gradually the memories build and layer upon one another to the point of becoming unbearable before a brief glimpse of hope – a glowing happy memory recalled.  But hope is soon lost and the individual sinks back into depression. Fighting overwhelming anger, resentment and rage the individual finally defiantly breaks the hold of the grief to emerge strong, jubilant and free.
 
The compositional process became a passionate, cathartic experience and what began as a piece based around a storm, a desperate person and the search for lost love, became so much more.  I hope it will touch hearts and help others find freedom.

Soulstrom

Performed by the Melbourne Symphonic Winds
Conducted by Jemima Bunn

www.jodieblackshaw.com

Twist is inspired by the shape, spirit and history of Australia’s magnanimous waterway, the Murray River (the Wiradjuri people of the Albury-Wodonga region called the river ‘Millewa’). The work is divided into 5 main sections, each subtitled:

I - ‘Survival’. This powerful opening was stimulated by the indigenous story of ‘Tiddalick the Frog’. There are several different versions of this Dream time fable but essentially, it tells of a colossal, greedy amphibian who consumes the entire river without any thought for the inhabitants of his bionetwork. This forthright, almost violent introduction to your journey seeks to paint Tiddalick’s volatile movements whilst he selfishly gorges on the region’s lifeblood.

II - ‘Reflection’ speaks of the majestic beauty the river displays at dawn and dusk. At times, the water is so very calm a perfect mirror image of the surrounding landscape is reflected on the water’s surface, bringing a sensation of inner peace to any spirit who is fortunate enough to experience such splendour. 

III - ‘Discovery’ reveals the arrival of European settlers and the introduction of paddleboats in the mid-1800s. These steam-powered beasts enabled essential supplies to be delivered to farmers working the land in arid, remote regions. The magnificence of the towering cliffs must have be an awesome sight to newcomers navigating this often treacherous waterway.

Just as dawn is announced by a chorus of Kookaburras, so to is this movement but instead of a recording, the awe-inspiring call of these idiosyncratic Australian birds is emulated here by the Trumpet section using various playing techniques and plunger mutes. 

IV - ‘Obsession’.  The second last movement is set as a sleazy late night Tango featuring the Baritone Saxophone. The river is as deceiving as it is beautiful. Whilst the calm and innocent surface has lured many into the Murray’s embrace, precarious snags, unseen creatures and treacherous undercurrents present many hazards. Even with experience the Murray still makes those in love with her unable to resist her temptations.

V - ‘Carnevale’ is the Italian term for carnival or festival and is used here to capture the profound influence of Mediterranean culture in the South West regions of New South Wales. In the 1940s hundreds of Italian people migrated to Australia and thanks to the development of the Murrumbidgee Irrigation Area and many years of strenuous labour, they helped to transform otherwise unworkable land into thriving viticultural regions. Whilst many despise the changes that man has brought to the Murray and her surrounding landscape, no-one can deny that these one-time immigrants, now the Great-Grandfathers and Mothers of second and third generation Australians, have promoted positive cultural change in Australia. The melodic material used in this section is inspired by the Italian folk dance the ‘Tarantella’ and is simply bursting with energy and joy.

Through all of these twists and turns the work comes back to where we started using material from ‘Survival’. Not only does this implicate the lifecycle of the eco-system, it also hopes to challenge all listeners to consider this; how do we successfully sustain of our beloved Murray River? As now it not only affects the natural inhabitants, it encompasses all who prosper from her bounty and that means you.

Jodie Blackshaw

Popular tracks