Dragon Chase: String Orchestra Conductor Score & Parts

$55.00 USD

Dragon Chase: String Orchestra Conductor Score & Parts

Name: Dragon Chase: String Orchestra Conductor Score & Parts
Brand: Alfred Music
SKU: 00-49904
Price: 55.00 USD
Availability: InStock

By Katie O'Hara LaBrie

Grade: 1.5

Item: 00-49904

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Who doesn't love an exhilarating, one-octave, E-minor tune about Dragons?! In Dragon Chase, by Katie O'Hara LaBrie, driving rhythms and melodies echoing from section to section will engage your students. Musical elements---such as marcato, accents, crescendos, and bow lifts---make it an excellent teaching piece. The first violin part includes carefully placed low 2s on the A string, while the other sections stick mainly to a 6-note range. (2:20)

Don't just read it, hear it, play along with it, and watch your students grow with it. In MakeMusic Cloud, Dragon Chase: 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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Series: Belwin Beginning String Orchestra

Publisher: Alfred Music

ISBN10: 1-4706-5798-8

ISBN13: 978-1-4706-5798-7

UPC: 038081575841

SKU: 00-49904

More about this title

About the Composer: Katie O'Hara LaBrie

Katie O'Hara LaBrie is a composer, conductor, cellist, and clinician based in Northern Virginia. She earned her Bachelor of Music in Music Education from St. Olaf College and her Masters of Music in Instrumental Conducting from George Mason University. Her fifteen-year career teaching orchestra in Fairfax County schools deeply shaped her compositional voice.

LaBrie's work is rooted in her classroom experience. She composes with three priorities: educational value, audience appeal, and joy for the players. Her pieces have earned repeated selection as J.W. Pepper Editor's Choice and performances at major conferences including the Midwest Band and Orchestra Directors Clinic and the American String Teachers Association Conference. In 2022, Yamaha recognized her as one of their "40 Under 40" honorees for her contributions to music education. She founded the Fairfax Chamber Players and co-created "the Big IDEA" practice method.

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Why we love this

Dragon Chase packs pedagogical punch without sacrificing the visceral fun of a driving, programmatic narrative. The carefully scaffolded technical demands—tractable bow techniques, accessible fingering patterns, and a narrow pitch range—let students focus on the real work: rhythmic precision, dynamic shaping, and musical storytelling. This is exactly the kind of piece that makes young orchestras sound unified and intentional.

What to expect

Restless and exhilarating, with a clear sense of purpose and direction. The one-octave E-minor melody feels urgent and bounded, like a creature moving through a defined space, while the driving rhythms and section-to-section echoes create momentum that never lets up.

Who it's for

Beginning string orchestra students in grades 2-4 who are ready for their first programmatic challenge. The piece works well for ensembles that have secure unison playing and basic bow control but haven't yet tackled complex meter or wide range demands.

How to get the most out of it

Highlight the marcato and accent markings in your rehearsal. These articulations give the dragons their snapping energy; exaggerate them in early rehearsals so the effect lands even when students pull back slightly in performance.
Shape the crescendos section by section rather than as one ensemble swell. Have each voice group claim ownership of their ascending dynamic so the effect builds in audible layers.
Lock the bow lifts to a consistent count. Unison rhythmic releases between sections are what create that precision feel; conduct them explicitly until they're automatic.

How to use it

Program this early in a concert to establish energy and lift the audience into full attention. Its festival-appropriate length (2:20) makes it ideal for contest programming alongside a lyrical contrast piece. It also works as a strong fall concert opener when you want to showcase rhythmic precision and show off what your young students can accomplish technically.