 BVD Press |
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| Music for Quintets |
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| Music for Quartets |
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| Music for Trios |
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| Large Ensembles |
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| Solos |
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| Compact Discs |
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| Christmas Music |
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| BVD Press Composers |
William Rowland
William Rowland was born in 1948 in Windsor, Missouri, the son of a Methodist
minister. The family moved around Missouri for several years, then finally was
transferred to Joplin when Bill was 13, and he considers that to be his home
town. He and his wife Linda lived in the Joplin area for many years, where he
worked as a piano tuner/technician, then in 1990 he received his Bachelor's
degree in Computer Information Science from Missouri Southern State College in
Joplin and the family moved first to Little Rock, Arkansas, then to Broken Arrow,
Oklahoma, a suburb of Tulsa. They have three married daughters and grandchildren
all living in the Tulsa area.
Rowland's day job is as a computer programmer, but his main interest has always
been in music. He composes music for church choir, and several of his anthems
are published by Abingdon Press in Nashville, Tennessee. He helped to found Solid
Brass, a quintet that plays in Tulsa and surrounding areas, and plays tuba and
provides arrangements for them. Many of these pieces have become a part of the
BVD Press catalog.
He is involved in his church and the Kairos Prison Ministry in Oklahoma, and is
also active in the Tulsa Spotlight Theatre as a pianist in the melodrama
"The Drunkard," which has been a Tulsa landmark since 1953. Rowland's ragtime
compositions have made him a two-time winner of the Scott Joplin International
Ragtime Festival Rag Composition Contest in Sedalia, Missouri. "Tickled Pink"
won the prize in 1975 and was published the next year in the "Ragtime Current"
folio edited by Rudi Blesh. "Spiffy," his entry for the 1997 Contest, received
Honorable Mention that year, and "Dave and Charlie's Rag" won First Prize at
that prestigious contest in 1999.
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John Beyrent
John Beyrent has been a music educator for over 30 years. Originally from Pennsylvania,
he holds degrees from Wilkes University and Mansfield State University and has taken
advanced graduate courses at New England Conservatory and Penn State University. He has
taught instrumental music in Gilford, NH since 1985.
Mr. Beyrent has been an adjunct instructor at both Keene State College and Plymouth
State College. He has been an active member of various state music organizations,
serving as Secretary for the New Hampshire Music Educators’ Association and President
of the New Hampshire Band Directors’ Association. He has hosted numerous district and
state music festivals, served as an adjudicator for All-State and New England festivals
and has been a guest conductor at several music festivals as well.
Mr. Beyrent is the founder of the Belknap Brass Quintet and each summer participates in
the Yankee Brass Band, a recreation of an authentic 19th century brass band. He
conducts the Gilford Community Band and the Carter Mountain Brass Band and has had
several original compositions and arrangements for band, brass and woodwind ensembles
published.
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Paul Frederick
A native of Monongahela, PA, a small town 30 miles south of
Pittsburgh, Paul currently resides in Salt Lake City,
Utah with his wife of 27 years, Evelyn. They have 3 children.
Paul started his music career in the US Air Force Band in Omaha,
Nebraska in 1965. After completing his time in the Air Force, he
packed up and headed to Boston where he enrolled in the prestigious
Berklee College of Music. During his school years, Paul played bass
trombone with the Berklee Recording Band under the direction of Herb
Pomeroy. This band recorded an album every semester. Duiring his time
in Boston, Paul had the opportunity to work with some of the biggest
names in the music industry, including touring with the Glenn Miller
Orchestra , under the direction of Buddy DeFranco. After moving to
California in 1975, he was a frequent sub for Kenny Shroyer on the
Bill Holman Band.
Paul moved to Utah in 1976. Since that time, he has worked with many
famous entertainers. He has not only worked as a trombonist and
euphonium player, but is a busy vocalist as well, working with a jazz
quartet. Paul enjoys writing and arranging for many different
ensembles. In addition to forming The Top Brass Quintet in 1992, he
is playing and arranging for a newly formed Tuba Quartet called
"Basses Loaded".
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Julie Christofferson
Julie Christofferson is currently serving as the Fine Arts and Healthy Lifestyles Consultant for
Jordan School District in Sandy Utah. She holds Bachelor's and Master's degrees in Music Education
from Brigham Young University and an Administrative Endorsement from the University of Utah.
In addition to administrative duties at the District Office she is the chair of the Utah State
Solo & Ensemble Festival, Coordinator of Bands for the Days of 47' Parade and is the Administrative
Director of the Jordan Symphony Orchestra. She taught instrumental music at both Jordan and West
Jordan High Schools for a total of 15 years and is a former director of the West Jordan City Band.
Prior to her work at the district she was an assistant principal at both Bingham and Jordan High
Schools. She has served as the Band Vice-President of the Utah Music Educators Association and
currently serves on the Education Board of Artistic Resource for Teachers and Students (ARTS Inc.).
She has served as a clinician, guest conductor and music adjudicator for several years.
In 1986 she was named Teacher of the Year at West Jordan High School and received a special Marching
band Director's Award during the Edmonton Klondike Days Celebration in Edmonton Alberta Canada. In
February 2002 she was recognized by the Utah Music Educators Association as Outstanding Administrator
for the school year 2000-2001. Julie is a trumpet player who has performed with the Mormon Youth
Symphony, Mormon Tabernacle Choir, Salt Lake Symphony, Utah Symphony, Northern Utah Honor Band and
several other groups. She currently performs with the Top Brass Quintet. She enjoys golf, gardening
and composing and arranging music. Julie is married to Tim Christofferson and the mother of two
children, Lisa and Matthew.
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Brian Bass
Mr. Bass resides in Kansas City, MO where he is Director of Marketing
for a national consulting engineering firm. His background however,
is firmly rooted in music. He holds Bachelor and Masters Degrees
in instrumental performance (trombone) from the University of
Illinois, Urbana-Champaign and currently performs on with several
Kansas City metropolitan area music ensembles.
He serves as section leader of the Kansas City Wind Symphony,
assistant principal trombone in the Liberty (MO) Symphony
Orchestra and plays with the Blue Devils Jazz Ensemble. He
recently served three seasons as principal trombonist with the
Olathe Community Orchestra and has also performed with the Kansas
City Civic Orchestra, the Kansas City Puccini Festival Orchestra
and free lances around Kansas City. Brian founded the Kansas
City Brass Project in 1999 as a brass quintet that has since
expanded to a 15-member brass choir. The ensemble has performed
numerous formal concerts including a combined massed concert of
50 brass player, which included the Fountain City Brass Band and
the Kansas Brass Quintet.
Brian began his music studies on piano at age eight (which he studied
for 23 years) and viola. He took up the trombone shortly thereafter
and developed an early interest in composing and arranging while in
high school. While in high school he studied music theory and
trombone privately at Michigan State University. He attended the
Interlochen National Arts Camp near Traverse City, Michigan for three
summers and was the youngest scholarship recipient in a Blue Lake Fine
Arts Camp wind ensemble that toured Europe in 1972.
His initial compositions were for piano. But his first real success
came at age 15 when he was selected Grand Prize winner in the Lansing
(MI) Arts and Science Festival open-call composition contest. His
fanfare for brass choir, "Overture for the New Year," was selected
to open the 3-day event and for radio promotion of the festival. His
interest in arranging for brass quintets, specifically, came after
forming the Pro Musica Brass Quintet at the University of Illinois.
The group toured Illinois, giving concerts and master classes at high
schools and they subsequently received full scholarships to the
Banff, Canada Fine Arts Camp to study in residence with the Canadian
Brass and members of the San Francisco Symphony for eight weeks.
The Pro Musica Brass Quintet became a vehicle for experimentation
with brass quintet arranging. He subsequently received commissions
by the St. Louis Brass Quintet and later the Wichita Brass Quintet
for ambitious works for professional-level players.
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