The New England Band Directors Institute (NEBDI) is thrilled to invite you to join its first-ever consortium project to commission a new work for “intergenerational concert band” by Andrew Boysen Jr.
Project Info:
NEBDI has served band directors at all school levels (elementary, middle, high school) and community bands for over three decades, so for our first consortium we agreed that we needed a piece that represented everyone in the communities we serve. At NEBDI 2025, a panel of attendees helped shape the piece, and we agreed on a multi-movement piece, with each movement at a different level (e.g., one movement at grade 1–1.5; another at grade 2–2.5; another at grade 3–4).
The idea is that while any one group could perform the movement(s) that matches their group’s ability as a stand-alone piece, the full work’s tiered difficulty is meant to invite collaboration between school groups and community groups. We want this piece to bring elementary, middle, high school, and adult community groups together for intergenerational fun: the community that plays together, stays together! This will be the perfect piece for an all-town band concert, or to collaborate with your local community band. Andy’s own description encapsulates the feel of the piece:
“I’m envisioning a sort of Pictures at an Exhibition for young band. Using New England painters…perhaps Winslow Homer, Andrew Wyeth, Norman Rockwell, and Edward Hopper, and others. Each painting could be shown during performance…first three would be at different grade levels and the last one would be for everyone. I would also have a promenade just as in the original Mussorgsky. This would also make for cool teaching opportunities for folks to be able to expose kids to the classics.”
If you’re not familiar with his music already, I encourage you to listen to some of Dr. Boysen’s works here.
Title: TBD
Structure:
Mvt. 1 ~ grade 1–1.5
Mvt. 2 ~ grade 2–2.5
Mvt. 3 ~ grade 3–4
Mvt. 4 ~ two sets of parts: grades 1.5 & 3
Plus, some incidental music and callbacks to Pictures at an Exhibition
Overall Length: ~ 10 minutes (by movement, ~ 1’, 2’, 3’, 4’)
Project Timeline:
We’ll start the consortium by collecting interest/intent to join first, and then start sending out invoices when we’re confident we have enough support to fund the consortium.
August 2026: Call to join the consortium
September 2026: Invoices sent to consortium members
December 1, 2026: Consortium member contributions due
July 12–14, 2027: Premiere given and reference recording made at NEBDI 2027
July 14, 2027: Parts and Scores delivered digitally
Exclusive Perk! Consortium members who attend NEBDI 2027 will receive a free PRINT score & set of parts to take home to their students, as well!
Buy-in Details:
All consortium fees will be collected by NEBDI’s organizer, New Hampshire Band Directors Association (NHBDA). Invoices will be sent at the start of the ‘26–’27 academic year and all fees will be due by December 1, 2026.
Ensemble fee (score and parts): $150.00
Individual (score only): $75.00
All consortium members will have their names and ensembles printed in the cover matter of the score; consortium members will have exclusive performing and recording rights to the work for one year (until July 14, 2028).
Please use this Google Form to sign up for the consortium. The form also contains details such as the composer’s bio, the anticipated instrumentation, and all the info from this invitation.
We hope you will join this consortium and use it to promote a truly life-long love of band in your community!