Osti Music Snarl - Mackey - Concert Band - Gr. 2-2.5

Composer: John Mackey
Format: Score and Parts
Instrumentation: Concert Band
Level: 2-2.5

In March 2016, I attended a rehearsal featuring students from the United Sound mentoring program - a program to encourage musicians with special needs to play side by side with general education musicians in the same ensemble. The empathy I experienced in that room was overwhelming. I cried, regained my composure, and asked if I could write a piece for United Sound. The result is Snarl.

Everyone gets picked on at some point - I know I did, especially in gym class. It's a horrible feeling. Snarl refuses to be bullied, from the opening saxophone section multiphonic, to the flutter-tongued winds and the crashes of cymbals.

Snarl is a gift to United Sound in thanks for making those mentored students feel not only special, but strong. - John Mackey
Duration: 2:45