Popular in MakeMusic

Teachers return to Andy Beck's Firefly: 2-Part Choral Octavo and Carry the Light: SATB Choral Octavo for choral ensembles of all sizes. Lin Miranda's Hamilton Highlights gives high school choirs contemporary repertoire with real staying power. Koji Kondo's Super Mario Bros. Underground Background Music proves that accessible piano arrangements of recognizable themes keep students engaged and practicing.

John Williams' Harry Potter Foundations: Band Book 1 arrived in August 2025 with a full curriculum guide built in, alongside Elton John's I Just Can't Wait to be King from The Lion King as a new piano/vocal option.

Andy Beck is Director of Choral Publications at Alfred Music and has written over 450 choral works now in print worldwide. His Firefly arrangement has become standard repertoire in middle and high school choirs, and teachers rely on his method books like Sing at First Sight and Vocalize! for building vocal technique alongside performance.

Brian Balmages writes across orchestral, band, and chamber music with equal fluency, and his work has reached professional stages from Carnegie Hall to the Sydney Opera House as well as elementary school concerts. He won the A. Austin Harding Award from the American School Band Directors Association, and his Force of Nature for string orchestra shows up consistently in school programs.

Lisa DeSpain brings a jazz and musical theatre sensibility to her arrangements. Her work on Hamilton Highlights captures the energy of Miranda's score while making it singable for high school ensembles. She's an award-winning composer in her own right, with opera commissions and NEA support behind her name.