30,000 and Forever: String Orchestra Conductor Score & Parts
By Brian Balmages
Grade: 4
Item: 98-DST6456
$75.00
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Buy Extra Parts (Digital PDF Download)
| Product | Price | Quantity |
|---|---|---|
| 30,000 and Forever: Score | $10.00 | |
| 30,000 and Forever: Violin 1 | $7.00 | |
| 30,000 and Forever: Violin 2 | $7.00 | |
| 30,000 and Forever: Viola | $7.00 | |
| 30,000 and Forever: Violoncello | $7.00 | |
| 30,000 and Forever: Double Bass | $7.00 |
Parts Added to Cart!
Description
An emotionally charged and personal work. Written to simultaneously depict the journey of graduating seniors with the composer's own journey to the other side of the world without his family, the music pulls at every emotional string it can find. From moments of solitude to times of sheer passion, fear, and eventual comfort, this is certain to take you on a powerful journey beyond anything you could possibly imagine.
Don't just read it, hear it, play along with it, and watch your students grow with it. In MakeMusic Cloud, 30,000 and Forever: String Orchestra Conductor Score & Parts comes alive with professional accompaniment, adjustable tempo, and built-in practice tools that turn solo practice into real progress.
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Additional Details
Series:
FJH String Orchestra
Publisher:
The FJH Music Company, Inc.
SKU:
98-DST6456
More about this title
About the Composer: Brian Balmages
Brian Balmages has established himself as a prolific composer and conductor working across orchestral, band, and chamber repertoire at the highest levels. His works have been performed by ensembles ranging from professional symphony orchestras to school groups in iconic venues including Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy Center, and the Sydney Opera House. He is a recipient of the A. Austin Harding Award from the American School Band Directors Association and won the 2020 NBA William D. Revelli Composition Contest for Love and Light. Balmages holds membership in the American Bandmasters Association and received the inaugural James Madison University Distinguished Alumni Award from the School of Visual and Performing Arts.
As a conductor, Balmages maintains regular engagements with all-state and regional ensembles, university groups, and professional orchestras worldwide. His guest conducting credits span the Midwest Clinic, Western International Band Clinic, and numerous state ASTA conferences. His work was performed during the 2013 Presidential Inaugural Prayer Service, and he was commissioned by the University of Miami to compose music for the inauguration of the institution's 6th president. He currently serves as Director of MakeMusic Publications and Digital Education for Alfred and MakeMusic.
Why we love this
Balmages writes with genuine emotional specificity here, capturing the bittersweet complexity of transition without resorting to sentimentality. The piece functions equally well as a contest selection and as a meaningful capstone for your concert season, giving your players something substantive to interpret rather than simply execute.
What to expect
The music moves through cycles of introspection and intensity, building from quiet uncertainty toward moments of raw emotion before settling into hard-won peace. You will hear both the vulnerability of departure and the strength that emerges through transition, with orchestral colors that feel both intimate and expansive.
Who it's for
Grade 4 string orchestras with solid intonation control and the musical maturity to sustain expressive playing through longer phrases. This piece suits advanced high school orchestras and strong middle school groups ready for genuinely adult emotional content.
How to get the most out of it
- Shape the solo passages with chamber music sensitivity; these intimate moments define the piece's emotional architecture and require restraint from the ensemble during transitions.
- Identify the structural turning points where comfort emerges from tension, and make those harmonic shifts perceptible to your audience through subtle adjustments in ensemble balance and vibrato intensity.
- Balance the contrasting emotional territories by varying rehearsal tempos slightly as you move between sections of solitude and passion, helping your musicians locate the psychological shifts in their own playing.
How to use it
This work anchors a concert theme about growth, transition, or reflection beautifully, particularly for spring concerts honoring graduating seniors. Its emotional weight and artistic substance make it memorable enough for festival and competition programming while remaining accessible to audiences beyond the music education community.
Skills your students will build
- Sustaining expressive intensity across longer musical phrases without rhythmic degradation
- Executing stylistically appropriate vibrato intensity to shape emotional narrative
- Balancing individual voice awareness with collective ensemble sound in section transitions
- Interpreting harmonic progression as emotional architecture rather than technical challenge