New Composers & Sheet Music

[Yankeeboy]

Posted: 9/18/05 at 6:54pm

I'm on a massive search for contemporary musical theater and cabaret composers that are a bit more off the beaten path. People like Brian Lowdermilk, Craig Carnelia, Steven Lutvak, Jon Bucchino, Jeff Blumenkrantz, Scott Alan, and people of that style. However, I'm having problems A)getting to hear their music and B) gaining access to their sheet music.

If anyone has any fresh composers towards whom they could point me, I'd be greatly appreciative. Also, is there any way of contacting Craig Carnelia - his songbook doesn't contain some of his most evocative pieces. People like Jeff Blumenkrantz have no musical samples on their websites, and people like Eric Michael Gillette barely have any mention online at all. HELP ME!!!

[TheEnchantedHunter]

Posted: 9/18/05 at 7:45pm

Jeff Blumenkrantz has just had a volume of his songs published. Ho-hum. Steve Lutvak has an album out, available on Amazon. Bucchino has a book of sheet music available: GRATEFUL and THIS MOMENT are the only songs of interest.

Vivian Darkbloom
Ramsdale, New England

[AuditioningWaitress]

Posted: 9/18/05 at 7:55pm

I'm pretty sure you can buy music directly from Brian Lowdermilk himself. His website is: www.brianlowdermilk.com.
Brian Lowdermilk's Website

[Yankeeboy]

Posted: 9/18/05 at 8:00pm

I've been to Brian's website and emailed him in regard to finding out more about his music. He's one of the easy ones :) Also, I'm very familiar with Bucchino's work...a HUGE fan of the Grateful album....pick it up if you're reading this thread and haven't heard it - it's fab.

[pianodan]

Posted: 9/19/05 at 2:48am

Have you checked out Peter Mills?
http://pcmills.tripod.com

[mommy3]

Posted: 9/19/05 at 10:19am

One of the newest best is Steve Weiner. He writes with Pete Mills and Glenn Slater. The best way to hear a ton of his music is to see his concert this Wed. night at 59 E 59th Street, Theatre B.
Go to: http://www.nymf.org/index.php?module=ShowManager&func=display&sid=83.
It is called the "Prospect Concert Series, Wed. 21st, Stephen Weiner, Songs of Love and Aggravation." Tickets are hard to come by, but you may find one. Or, you can go to theatre on Wed. night and see if there were any no-shows. Great line-up of Broadway pros. Everybody will be there.

[Yankeeboy]

Posted: 9/19/05 at 9:29pm

Wow thanks so much for the Mills website. This is exactly the kind of stuff I'm looking for. Anybody have any other suggestions or tips for hot new composers, also people doing their own original cabaret work that's worth looking into? Thanks!!

[bjivie2]

Posted: 9/19/05 at 9:41pm

If you can find him, David Austin is also a fabulous contemporary musical theatre composer. He's in the BMI Workshop right now.

[RentBoy86]

Posted: 9/19/05 at 11:54pm

Yeah, i'm doing "Run away with me" by Lowdermilk. I love that song.

[magic8ball]

Posted: 9/20/05 at 12:01am

I performed that number at a BC/EFA benefit concert a while back, and it was recieved VERY well. It might be my favorite Lowdermilk tune.

Also, a note about Bucchino's work- There are more than two songs suitable for the male voice in the "Grateful" songbook. Others include "Taking the Wheel", "Not a Cloud in the Sky", and "It Feels Like Home" (although I had to transpose that one...).

Updated On: 9/20/05 at 12:01 AM

[Link Larkin Wanabe]

Posted: 9/20/05 at 12:09am

"Run Away with Me" and "The Proposal" are beautiful. I will likely sing them at some gigs this year.

Question: Has anyone seen The Education of Samantha Brown? What is it about? Is it any good? I was gonna start a thread about this, but I might a well try here first.

Akiva

[magic8ball]

Posted: 9/20/05 at 12:11am

"The Unauthorized Autobiography of Samantha Brown", you mean? Yes, I posted a rather lengthy review a while back. Let me see if I can dig it up.

EDIT: Found it.
The Unauthorized Autobiography of Samantha Brown

Updated On: 9/20/05 at 12:11 AM

[Yankeeboy]

Posted: 9/20/05 at 2:42pm

Hmm I can't find much on David Austin. I'll have to keep looking. Yes, I'm quite familiar with the Grateful songs, I've done If I Ever Say I'm Over You at school, and I sing half the female songs in the privacy of my own room. It's one of my favorite albums generally.

What does anyone think about more mainstream composers who may have a catalogue of songs that stand by themselves? I'm talking things like Stephen Schwartz's Reluctant Pilgrim album (which isn't exactly what I'm looking for) and William Finn's Infinite Joy and Elegies albums.

Still, more suggestions of lesser-known composers to look into would be greatly appreciated!

[RentBoy86]

Posted: 10/26/05 at 1:23am

Steve Marzullo - anyone know if he has any samples or anything of his music out there?

[JBSinger]

Posted: 10/26/05 at 9:17am

For Stephen Schwartz you can go to his website (www.stephenschwartz.com) and write his assistant (Michael Cole) for copies of any song from his 2 albums. It generally just costs the copying/shipping of the pieces. They are very accomodating.

For whatever reason, Finn won't send out his songs (or at least he didn't to me). If you want anything from Elegies, you'd best get ahold of the vocal score (Sam French).

Michael John LaChuisa is a regular here on the board. I bet he'd be pretty cool with getting songs.

In terms of getting a hold of new composers to get their songs, you can always get addresses/phone from the ASCAP or BMI directories. I got in contact with Rupert Holmes, Judy Gold, and Bill Russell that way. Good luck!

[snowie862]

Posted: 2/2/06 at 9:21am

I have a few of his songs on the computer as PDFs.

Run Away With Me *Includes Midi and NWC*
The Proposal
Say the Word
Stand here with me
For no apparent reason
Parts of you
How to not (Male)

[Zimmy]

Posted: 2/2/06 at 9:47am

www.pasekandpaul.com

[joniray]

Posted: 2/2/06 at 12:47pm

David Austin is quite a talented composer. He is currently in "I Love You Because" Off-Broadway, which was written by another contemporary musical theatre team you might want to look into, Ryan Cunningham (lyrics) and Joshua Salzman (music). I checked out the "I Love You Because" website to see if there was a way to contact them, but didn't see that as an option. I know they are all with BMI though so you may be able to contact them through the workshop.

Jeff Blumenkrantz is also in the workshop but I believe you can contact him through his website. It is a shame that there aren't any audio files on his site, but I think it is well worth it for you to get in touch with him. I've only heard a handful of his songs (in live settings) but they were fantastic. Color me impressed. A truely outstanding writer.

Have you checked out the NEO CD? It’s a recording of a benefit for York theatre that featured work from "New, Emerging, Outstanding" theatre writers. You can get a taste of a lot of new talent on that. I'm familiar with many of the composers / writing teams represented on the album through various cabarets/showcases/shows etc. and can particularly recommend you look into (if you have the time and patience for a lot of Googling) Daniel Aquisto/Sammy Buck (I loved their musical "Like You Like It" at NYMF ’04), Todd Almond/Gus Kaikkonen (their musical "People Like Us" at NYMF ’05 had some stunning songs in it), Doug Cohen, David Friedman, Jenny Giering (I loved her "Mistress Cycle" at NYMF ’05, but I also attended a concert of hers a few years ago where she performed some folk/rock songs very different from her "Mistress Cycle" score and I thought they were amazing), Brad Howell Houghton, Tom Kitt/Amanda Green, and the aforementioned Peter Mills. (I would include Brian Lowdermilk/Kait Kerrigan in this list, but I see you have already contacted Lowdermilk.) Other composers whose work I've really enjoyed in cabarets and I recommend looking into are Brett Kristofferson and Gary Negbaur.

Jamie McGonnagal was the director of NEO and seems to know a lot of "up and coming" composers. I have seen him post around these parts, so you might want to try reaching out to him. He may be able to assist you with contacting any of the above and maybe recommending a few others.

Hope this helps.

Updated On: 2/2/06 at 12:47 PM

[wickedbway]

Posted: 2/2/06 at 1:32pm

I have the sheet music to Carnelia's "Flight", which is one of my favorite songs.

[RentBoy86]

Posted: 3/14/06 at 11:39pm

BUMP --- Anyone know if any of these composers (besides Lowdermilk) have websites with audio clips and whatnot? thanks.

[Jazzysuite82]

Posted: 3/15/06 at 1:00pm

Yeah they do just google their names to find their exact website addy.

[Roninjoey]

Posted: 3/15/06 at 1:04pm

Google? What's that?

[RentBoy86]

Posted: 3/15/06 at 1:21pm

Thanks Jazzy. I tried googlin' some of them, but didn't come up with anything. But ill keep trying.

[RentBoy86]

Posted: 3/15/06 at 1:40pm

Yeah, I can't find anything on any of them.

[Jazzysuite82]

Posted: 3/15/06 at 2:00pm

umm I just googled both Jeff blumenkrantz and Brian Lowdermilk and got a crap load of hits.