Search Results: “United Artists”

Sammy Nestico | Hal Leonard Sammy Nestico Sammy Nestico is one of the world's most gifted and versatile composers and arrangers. Sammy was a member of the United States Air Force Band in Washington D.C. for 15 years, serving as staff arranger and leader of the famed Airmen of Note. Later, he enlisted with the United States Marine Band and served as chief arranger and director of the White House orchestra during the Kennedy and Johnson administrations. From 1970 until 1984, Sammy was the composer/arranger for the Count Basie Orchestra, directing the recording of ten albums of original music and garnering four Grammy awards. During this same period, he served as composer/arranger for Capital Records and created music for movies and television. Sammy has arranged and/or conducted albums for a wide range of recording artists, including Frank Sinatra, Sarah Vaughan, Bing Crosby, Toni Tennille, Nancy Wilson, Barbra Streisand and many others. His arrangements have been performed and recorded by the leading symphonies, but he is most proud of his nearly 600 titles published in the educational field and played in the schools of America. Publications by Sammy Nestico

Mike Springer | Hal Leonard Mike Springer Mike Springer maintains an active schedule as a teacher, composer/arranger, pianist and adjudicator in the Dallas, Texas area. His students have won top prizes in many competitions in the fields of performance and composition. Mr. Springer has composed and arranged extensively for piano, electronic media (MIDI), vocal ensemble, and wind ensemble. As a composer for educational piano music, he has had several pieces selected for the National Federation of Music Clubs list. Mr. Springer is an accomplished performer in classical and jazz idioms. He has produced and performed on three of his own CDs as well as those of other performing artists, and has performed with his wife Christy, a saxophonist, in the United States and Europe. He is currently the pianist at Trietsch Memorial United Methodist Church in Flower Mound, Texas. Mr. Springer studied with Dr. Pamela Paul at the University of North Texas, where he earned his Bachelor of Music and Master of Music degrees in Piano Performance. Publications by Mike Springer

John Biggs | Hal Leonard John Biggs Born in Los Angeles on October 18, 1932, John Biggs received his Masters degree in composition from the University of California at Los Angeles, doing further study at the University of Southern California and the Royal Flemish Conservatory in Antwerp, Belgium. His teachers include Roy Harris, Lukas Foss, Ingolf Dahl, Flor Peeters, Halsey Stevens, and Leonard Stein. As an educator, he has taught at Los Angeles City College, UCLA, and UC Berkeley. He also served as composer-in-residence to six colleges in Kansas under a grant from the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare. As a performer, he founded the John Biggs Consort, which toured internationally under Columbia Artists Management, specializing in medieval, renaissance, and 20th century music. As a composer, he has won numerous awards and honors including a Rockefeller Grant, Fulbright Grant, Atwater-Kent Award, ASCAP “Serious Music Award” every year since 1974, and a number of “Meet the Composer” grants from diverse parts of the United States. Publications by John Biggs

Tim Waters | Hal Leonard Tim Waters Tim Waters is Music Department Vice Chairman, Director of Bands, and Associate Professor of Music at Oral Roberts University. A native of Greenville, South Carolina, he received his Bachelor of Music degree from Furman University, and his Master of Music Education and Doctor of Arts in Music Composition degrees from the University of Georgia. A member of the ORU faculty since 2003, Dr.Waters previously served as Music Director for Victory Christian Center, a large televised church in Tulsa, Oklahoma, a position that also included the role of founding director of the School of Worship within the church’s Bible school. At ORU, he also serves as Instrumental Coordinator and Music Technology Coordinator; other duties include teaching classes in music and worship. Dr. Waters maintains an active writing schedule, creating new works for bands, orchestras and churches around the United States. He also enjoys producing recordings for various artists, with an emphasis on instrumental jazz and vocal worship.

Paul Murtha | Hal Leonard Paul Murtha Composer, arranger Paul Murtha (b. 1960) is a native of Johnstown, Pennsylvania where he studied jazz arranging with John Morris and music theory with Richard Napolitan. In 1983, Paul earned a B.S. degree in Music Education (with a minor in Jazz Studies) from Duquesne University in Pittsburgh. While at Duquesne, Paul studied jazz arranging with John Wilson and orchestration with Joseph Wilcox Jenkins. A versatile composer-arranger, Paul is at ease in both professional and educational circles, and is in constant demand in and around Washington, D.C. Paul has written music for acclaimed mezzo-soprano Denyce Graves, Patti LaBelle, Kathy Mattea, Lou Rawls and Kenny Loggins, as well as Ken Burn’s “Music of the Civil War." He has also written extensively for some of the top high school and college marching bands in the country. Paul’s work with the National Symphony Orchestra includes arrangements for artists such as Trace Adkins, Jordin Sparks, Gloria Estefan, Gladys Knight, and Huey Lewis and the News, for nationally televised events including “A Capitol Fourth” and the “National Memorial Day Concert.” In December 2016, Paul's "A Swingin' Nutcracker" (a 90-minute work for full orchestra) was premiered by the Baltimore Symphony. From 1990 to 1996, Paul served as the Chief Arranger at the United States Military Academy Band at West Point. He served on the arranging staff of The United States Army Band (“Pershing’s Own”) in Washington, D.C. from 1996 to 2001, then served as that band’s Chief Arranger from 2001 to 2016. Paul is published exclusively by Hal Leonard Corporation, where he contributes music to many areas of the instrumental catalogue. Publications by Paul Murtha

John Wasson | Hal Leonard John Wasson From his arrangement of Caravan heard in the final scene of the Academy Award winning motion picture "Whiplash" to his orchestrations performed by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and the Philly Pops and his published compositions and arrangements numbering in the hundreds, John Wasson's music has been heard and performed around the world by professional artists and educational organizations alike. Born and raised in the Twin Cities in Minnesota, John attended the University of North Texas where he earned degrees in music theory and trombone performance, and played in the world-renowned One O'Clock Lab Band, appearing on four of their recordings. He is a charter member of the world-renowned Dallas Brass and produced several of their recordings. He toured as a member of the Stan Kenton and Woody Herman Orchestras and has performed with a variety of major artists including Tony Bennett, Reba McIntyre, Johnny Mathis, and Natalie Cole. John has composed and produced music for such organizations as National Geographic, the United Way, the Ken Burns American Heritage Prize, and the Salvation Army. He has been commissioned to compose and arrange band and jazz ensemble works by high school and collegiate ensembles around the country, and has created works for various professional ensembles including the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, the Dallas Winds, and the U. S. Air Force Bands and Airmen of Note. John currently resides in the Dallas area where he leads and performs in his own Strata Big Band and CoolBrass Jazztet; both groups have performed by invitation at the Jazz Educators Network annual conference. The Big Band released its first album Chronicles in 2022 on the Summit Records/MAMA label, and the Jazztet released its first CD, The New Cool, on CD Baby in 2012. John is an XOBrass Trombone artist. Publications by John Wasson

Karen Buckwalter | Hal Leonard Karen Buckwalter Karen Lakey Buckwalter, a distinguished organist, pianist, and composer, is Associate Minister of Music at St. Matthew Lutheran Church, in Hanover, PA. She currently directs the handbell program, coordinates the Saturday contemporary worship and is privileged to play a 231 rank Austin organ (14,341 pipes), the 5th largest church organ in the world. Mrs. Buckwalter is a 1974 graduate of Westminster Choir College, where she earned her Bachelor of Music Education degree and a 1977 graduate of The Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia, where she studied organ with Mr. John Weaver and earned the prestigious Artists Diploma in Organ Performance. In 2007, Mrs. Buckwalter successfully completed the Associate in Ministry program at the Lutheran Theological Seminary at Gettysburg and is continuing her studies in the Masters in Religion degree program. Internationally known in the field of handbell composition, Mrs. Buckwalter composed her first published work, “Danza” in 1982. With 47 handbell/choral compositions now in print, she has earned enthusiastic praise for her creative compositions, her colorful harmonies and her use of chromatics that have raised the musicality in handbell music as a genre. Mrs. Buckwalter is sought after as a handbell conductor/clinician for workshops and bell festivals throughout the US. Her works have been recorded in the United States and Japan and they are frequently selected at area and national handbell conferences throughout the country. Publications by Karen Buckwalter

Jonathan Palant | Hal Leonard Jonathan Palant Jonathan Palant is Associate Dean of the Arts and Director of Choral Activities at the University of Texas at Dallas and is founder and conductor of Credo, a 130-member community choir, and the Dallas Street Choir a musical outlet for those experiencing homelessness and disadvantage. In addition, Dr. Palant is Director of Music at Kessler Park United Methodist Church and is employed by the Dallas Independent School District to mentor middle and high school vocal music teachers. In the coming year, Dr. Palant will present at the American Choral Directors Association National Conference in Kansas City, MO and at music conferences in California, Florida, Indiana, Montana, Pennsylvania, and Texas. Additionally, he will conduct all-state choirs in both Illinois and Massachusetts. In June 2016, Dr. Palant made his Carnegie Hall conducting debut performing with renowned artists Frederica von Stade, Harolyn Blackwell, Jake Heggie, and Broadway composer Stephen Schwartz. From 2007-2011, he served as Artistic Director of Dallas' Turtle Creek Chorale. Prior to that, Palant held collegiate teaching positions at Western Kentucky University and Madonna University, Livonia, Michigan. He taught secondary choral music at University School, an all-boys independent school in Cleveland, Ohio, and San Pasqual High School in Escondido, California. Dr. Palant currently serves as president of the National Alliance for Music in Vulnerable Communities and sits on the board of directors of the Intercollegiate Men's Choruses. He has also served on the state board of the Michigan chapter of the American Choral Directors Association and Youth First Texas where he was founder and conductor of Dallas PUMP!, a choir serving at-risk youth. Both Palant's book, Brothers, Sing On! Conducting the Tenor-Bass Choir and Brothers, Sing On! The Jonathan Palant Choral Series are published by Hal Leonard. Publications by Jonathan Palant

George Stone | Hal Leonard George Stone George Stone has enjoyed a substantial career in music performance, composition, arranging and education for 30 years. He is the Director of Audio Technology and teaches Music Theory and Composition at Cuesta College in San Luis Obispo, CA. Born and raised in Newhall, CA, George was a product of the strong local music programs and teachers of the Santa Clarita Valley. He received his degrees from Cal State University Northridge where he was a member of the renowned Jazz A-Band for whom he wrote extensively. By age 21 he was directing his own Los Angeles big band and writing for live shows and television. Some artists and groups with whom he has been privileged to work include Doc Severinson, Dave Grusin, Tom Scott, Jack Jones, Chris Vadala, Jeff Babko, Bobby Shew, Donny McCaslin, Dave Tull, Luis Bonilla, Maynard Ferguson, Wayne Bergeron, Bob McChesney, Larry Koonse and Ron Jones. He has composed and arranged for NBC, HBO, Warner Brothers, Steve Wynn and Disney. He is also the composer of the most famous MIDI song of all time, “Trip Through the Grand Canyon” (Canyon.Mid) that was released on over 66 million copies of Microsoft Windows. George has appeared as guest composer/conductor at colleges and universities throughout the world. He has adjudicated literally hundreds of jazz festivals in the United States and is commissioned regularly by high school, college and professional bands to compose new music for jazz ensemble. He performs regularly on trumpet and piano, with compositions and arrangements released through publishers worldwide. His CD entitled “The Real Deal” features his music performed by the greatest Los Angeles players who currently comprise his big band. Publications by George Stone

Howard Helvey | Hal Leonard Howard Helvey Howard Helvey (b. 1968) resides in Cincinnati, Ohio, where he is active as a composer, arranger and pianist, and serves as organist and choirmaster of historic Calvary Episcopal Church. Nationally and internationally, he is in frequent demand as a composer, conductor, speaker, and member of the Steinbach/Helvey Piano Duo. Known particularly for his choral music, Mr. Helvey maintains an extremely active writing schedule, and his hundreds of compositions and arrangements are published by all the leading music publishers. His compositions have been featured on numerous recordings, national television and radio broadcasts, in such eminent concert venues as New York's Carnegie Hall, the Walt Disney Concert Hall (LA), the Meyerson Symphony Center (Dallas), the White House, the National Cathedral (Washington, D.C.), and many locations throughout Europe and Asia. In addition, his music is regularly performed at regional and national conventions of the American Choral Directors Association and other professional music organizations, and has been acclaimed as ""engaging"" (Choral Journal), ""definitive"" (Journal of the Association of Anglican Musicians), ""magical"" (The Hymn) and in response to his occasional inclusion of jazz elements ""fun and certain to be of interest"" (The Diapason). Mr. Helvey is commissioned frequently by church, university, and professional ensembles, and recent performance highlights have been presented by the Kansas City Chorale, Chicago a cappella, the Turtle Creek Chorale (Dallas), the Choir of St. Ignatius Loyola (New York), the Bach Society of Saint Louis, the Saint Louis Chamber Chorus, Kammerchor Constant (Cologne), and Pro Musica (Copenhagen) and by university/collegiate choirs from Stanford, Harvard, Concordia, Luther, and Texas A&M. He received awards in 2002, 2003 and 2006 (as first prize winner) from the John Ness Beck Foundation, who annually recognizes outstanding achievement in choral composition. Since 1997 Mr. Helvey has collaborated as a pianist with distinguished artist Richard Steinbach in concerts and recordings of four-hand and two-piano literature. Performance highlights have included concerts in dozens of cities throughout the United States, Canada and England, and by invitation as duo artists at the 2000 national meeting of the Music Teachers National Association convention in Minneapolis. Widening their exposure through television appearances in the United States and Canada, the Steinbach/Helvey duo has offered its performances to a broad and diverse community. Along with violinist Mari Thomas and cellist Susan Petersen, Mr. Helvey is also a founding member of the Hannaford Piano Trio. A Missouri native, Mr. Helvey holds a Bachelor of Music degree in composition from the University of Missouri-Columbia and a Master of Music degree in composition and piano performance from the University of Cincinnati's College-Conservatory of Music. Designated an undergraduate Chautauqua Scholar, he pursued additional studies in piano at New York's Chautauqua Institution. Mr. Helvey has studied piano with Raymond Herbert, Jan Houser, Richard Morris and Dolores Gadevsky; and his composition teachers have included John Cheetham, Thomas McKenney, Darrell Handel and Frederick Bianchi. As one passionate about effective congregational hymn-singing, Mr. Helvey received additional training in hymn-accompanying and organ improvisation from Gerre Hancock. Publications by Howard Helvey

SJC Drums Assigns U.S. Retail Distribution to Hal Leonard

7/17/24--Hal Leonard is thrilled to announce a new exclusive US distribution agreement with SJC Drums. This exciting partnership will see Hal Leonard offer an exclusive product line alongside popular SJC series kits to resellers across the United States. Eva Vasconcellos, Director of Operations, and Brad Smith, VP of Hal Leonard MI Distribution, announced the agreement, which commences on July 1.

The available models include the Tour, Pathfinder, and Navigator, each offered in exclusive and standard color options with additional add-on options. Also featured in the lineup are the Alpha metal snares, available in brass, aluminum, copper, and black.

The story of SJC Drums is a quintessential American success story. Founded in 2000 by brothers Scott and Mike Ciprari, SJC originated from their passion for music and craftsmanship, creating drums for friends in their grandmother's basement. Their dedication paid off with significant exposure at the Vans Warped Tour in 2002 and a breakthrough performance at the MTV VMA Awards by Panic! At the Disco. Over the years, SJC Drums has garnered endorsements from numerous artists, including drummers for Imagine Dragons, Sum 41, Green Day, New Found Glory, Rancid, Slipknot, Twenty One Pilots, and many more.

“Ever since our first NAMM show, we knew someday that SJC Drums could reach and inspire the next generation of drummers,” said Mike Ciprari, co-founder and Director of Marketing & Artist Relations at SJC. “We are eager to support Hal Leonard in bringing more SJC players into the fold.”

Eva Vasconcellos, Director of Operations, added, “It’s time for SJC to ramp up production and share our exceptional craftsmanship with a wider audience. Our new partnership with Hal Leonard is the perfect fit to usher in this new era.”

Brad Smith, VP of MI at Hal Leonard, echoed the excitement: “This opportunity came at an ideal time for Hal Leonard. With our exit from the Gretsch line, we can now fully focus on this incredible drum company. Our dedicated sales and operations team is poised to elevate SJC Drums to new heights.”

Retailers interested in stocking SJC Drums can contact the Hal Leonard E-Z Order Line at 1-800-554-0626.

About Us | Hal Leonard Hal Leonard Corporate History In the late 1930s in Winona, Minnesota, Harold "Hal" Edstrom, his brother Everett "Leonard" Edstrom and their friend Roger Busdicker had formed a very popular dance band. Concerned that their conservative father wouldn't approve of using the family name for a band, Harold and Ev took parts of their names and called the band Hal Leonard. As leader of the Hal Leonard Band, Ev eventually became known as "Hal Leonard." The company Hal Leonard was founded in 1947, after the Hal Leonard Band broke up. At the time, Ev started a music store using the Hal Leonard name while Roger and Harold were both directing award-winning high school bands in Winona. In those days, most school bands played serious classical literature, but Harold and Roger had the unique ability because of their professional experience to arrange popular music for school bands. Soon band directors across the US wanted their arrangements. They started to mimeograph copies and sell them. They realized that to successfully (and legally!) launch a new publishing company, they needed to license songs, so they ventured to New York's Tin Pan Alley in search of copyrights. What they got on their trip was an education in publishing and the rights to "I Wonder Who's Kissing Her Now," one of the most popular songs of the day. Eventually, many music publishers in New York were licensing Hal Leonard to do school band arrangements of their songs. Thus began their publishing business and an entirely new industry. Hal Leonard continued to grow and expand into other areas, including instructional materials and repertoire for every instrument, voice, and ensemble. In 1970, Keith Mardak and associates started a new division of Hal Leonard called Learning Unlimited to create the first book/audio music instructional products. This division soon outgrew the company, and Mardak was named general manager for all of Hal Leonard. In 1985, an internal management team led by Mardak purchased Hal Leonard from its original founders. A new corporate headquarters was opened in Milwaukee, WI, in addition to expanding the Winona facilities to handle the company's dramatic growth. Under Mardak's leadership, Hal Leonard dramatically increased its publishing output and pursued a series of acquisitions, leading to an unprecedented period of expansion for the company. Today, Hal Leonard is the world's largest print music publisher, with the #1 methods for learning guitar, piano, band, orchestra, plus publications for learning virtually every instrument imaginable. In addition, they distribute other esteemed publishers including Berklee Press, Boosey & Hawkes, DeHaske Publications, Faber Piano Adventures, G. Henle Verlag, Robert King, G. Schirmer, Schott, Willis, and many more. See all of our publishing partners here. In addition to still being the leader in printed music publications, Hal Leonard has also led the way in digital music technology. Hal Leonard developed SheetMusicDirect.com in 1997 (four years BEFORE iTunes!) with thousands of songs arranged for different instruments available for download. GuitarInstructor.com followed, featuring online video guitar lessons and tab arrangements for thousands of songs. In addition, the company expanded by purchasing Noteflight.com, a music composition website, and Groove3, a website providing online training for music technology. In addition, Essential Elements Interactive was added to the Essential Elements Band and Strings methods which added a valuable online component to benefit both instructors and students. Over a half million students access EEi during the school year. Hal Leonard continued the tradition of innovation in print music with the development of MyLibrary, a cloud-based portal for their books with online content. Customers who purchase books with online audio, access the content online using the unique code inside each book. Audio can be streamed or downloaded and includes PLAYBACK+, a multi-functional audio player that allows you to slow down audio without changing pitch, set loop points, change keys, and pan left or right. Hal Leonard launched Essential Elements Music Class in 2019 to provide a cloud-based, online resource for general music education complete with songs, lesson resources, ukulele and recorder lesson plans, and many more resources for the music educator. In 2020, Hal Leonard launched their own proprietary streaming e-book format: Hal Leonard Digital Books. These interactive, cloud-based publications were designed especially for musicians and include access to embedded video or audio on many titles. In 2023, Hal Leonard joined digital leader Muse Group in a shared mission to improve the lives of music makers. The landmark deal brought together the teams behind the world's most iconic sheet music catalogs, the largest online musician communities, and award-winning software. In 2024, they debuted their first joint project, MuseClass, an all-in-one teaching solution providing practice and assessment tools with Hal Leonard repertoire for music educators. In its catalog of more than one million available titles, Hal Leonard represents many of the world's best known and most respected publishers, artists, songwriters, arrangers and musical instrument manufacturers. Its products are sold in more than 65 countries throughout the world through Hal Leonard offices and a large network of distributors. Hal Leonard operates out of two main facilities - its corporate headquarters in Milwaukee, Wisconsin and a state-of-the-art administration, production and distribution facility in Winona, Minnesota. The company also has offices abroad in Australia, Belgium, China, Germany, the Netherlands, India, Italy, France, and the United Kingdom in London and Bury St. Edmunds. The hundreds of Hal Leonard employees around the world remain dedicated to providing the very best in music products and services to bring the joy of making music to everyone!

Keveren Series, The Phillip Phillip Keveren, a multi-talented keyboard artist and composer, has composed original works in a variety of genres from piano solo to symphonic orchestra. Mr. Keveren gives frequent concerts and workshops for teachers and their students in the United States, Canada, Europe and Asia. Mr. Keveren holds a B.M. in composition from California State University and a M.M. in composition from the University of Southern California. His clever and smart arrangements of popular songs, religious favorites, Broadway and movie themes, and classical and jazz standards have brought joy to millions of piano students and teachers alike! His ability to provide arrangements that make students at all levels shine have become standard repertoire in the piano pedagogy world. The Phillip Keveren Series features over 100 volumes!