Chroma: Concert Band Conductor Score

Strommen crafts a piece that resists easy categorization, moving fluidly between jazz idioms, carnival whimsy, and genuine dramatic weight without ever feeling fragmented. The chromatic language creates harmonic sophistication at a Grade 3.5 level that won't overwhelm your ensemble, while the style shifts provide immediate opportunities for rehearsal conversation about tone, articulation, and character. This is a concert piece that rewards careful listening and offers genuine interpretive challenges within a manageable difficulty range.

Chroma moves between vibrant, unsettled harmonic space and moments of genuine theatricality. The jazz passages swing with cool sophistication; the circus section bounces with cheeky energy; the dramatic material lands with weight and presence. Throughout, the chromatic language creates a sense of color shifting in real time, as if the piece itself is constantly revealing new hues.

This work suits bands ready to tackle contemporary repertoire with harmonic sophistication and stylistic range. It appeals to directors programming festival or concert contexts where aesthetic variety and performance polish matter equally, and to ensembles with solid fundamentals who can navigate chromatic writing without losing intonation.

• Establish the tone-row quality of the main theme early in rehearsals; its chromatic nature should feel intentional and purposeful, not wandering.
• Demarcate the stylistic shifts clearly during sectional work. Jazz passages require looser articulation and swing feel, while the dramatic sections benefit from unified, grounded attacks.
• Balance color changes with clarity. The chromatic harmony can muddy if ensemble members aren't precise with intonation; mark the most exposed pitch moments and lock them in sectionally first.
• Let the playful circus sections breathe. Rhythmic precision matters here, but excessive rigidity kills the intended lightness and whimsy.

Program Chroma as a centerpiece for a concert or festival performance that showcases your ensemble's versatility and tonal control. Its moderate length (3:10) and varied character make it an ideal anchor for a set that includes either a march and a ballad, or as a bridge between more traditional and experimental contemporary works. It works equally well in solo concert or festival contest contexts.

• Reading and performing chromatic melodic lines with rhythmic precision
• Executing style shifts from jazz feel to classical articulation to dramatic expression within a single piece
• Listening for pitch relationships in chromatic harmony while maintaining ensemble blend
• Balancing dynamic and tonal contrasts to clarify form and character changes
• Interpreting contemporary compositional language with confidence