(Level III) The Mild, Mild Midwest - An original piece commissioned and premiered by the New York Youth Symphony's Jazz Band Classic. It's a fresh and modern sounding homage to the heartland of America where the composer grew up. The piece is also featured on COLOSSUS's debut album. There is some relatively easy clarinet and bass clarinet doubling and the solos are for trombone 1, tenor 1, and drums. (Straight 8ths)The tune is about nine minutes total length. Mike's website http://www.mconradmusic.com
8 Brass

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MIKE CONRAD is a composer, improviser, and teacher from Iowa. He graduated with a Master’s degree in Jazz Composition and Arranging from the Eastman School of Music, where he studied with Bill Dobbins and played lead trombone in the Eastman Jazz Ensemble. Conrad has been recognized for his arranging and composing with four ASCAP Herb Alpert Young Jazz Composer Awards and five Downbeat Student Music Awards, as well as awards from the American Society of Music Arrangers and Composers and Ithaca College’s Jazz Composition Contest. He has been commissioned by several organizations such as the West Point Army Jazz Knights, Excelsior Charter Schools, and the New York Youth Symphony Jazz Band. His string quartet version of The Genesee was performed as part of Barack Obama’s Inauguration in Washington, D.C. in January 2013. Recently, Conrad was invited to Trossingen, Germany for the premiere of a piece he wrote for the BuJazzO’s 2016 Jazz Composition Contest.

From 2013 to 2015, Conrad was the Head Band Director at West High School in Waterloo, IA where he directed the Wind Symphony and Jazz Ensembles and taught Music Theory and Jazz Improvisation. He also led his own large jazz ensemble called COLOSSUS and is currently leading and writing for a unique 15-piece group called the All Angles Orchestra. A highly sought-after performer, Conrad enjoys playing creative improvised music on both trombone and piano, and continues to come up with fresh and exciting works for a wide variety of ensembles. Conrad is happy to be a Teaching Assistant at the University of Northern Colorado where he is in the process of completing his Doctorate in Jazz Studies.