Espresso: Concert Band Conductor Score

This arrangement captures the infectious energy of a contemporary hit without sacrificing musicality or balance across your sections. Bernotas has crafted something genuinely fun to conduct and equally rewarding for students to play, making it an ideal bridge between pop culture and concert band repertoire.

Bright, propulsive, and unapologetically fun. Disco-tinged rhythms drive the piece forward while a hook so sticky it's impossible to shake out of your head anchors every section. The arrangement glides with momentum and joy, the kind of piece that has audiences tapping their feet before the first phrase concludes.

Concert band directors looking to program current, relevant music that engages students without compromising musical substance. This Grade 2 arrangement works for middle school bands and younger high school ensembles seeking accessible pop repertoire with genuine sophistication.

• Lock the rhythmic groove early in rehearsal. The disco-inflected feel relies on precision from your rhythm section, so isolate percussion and lower brass to establish a steady pocket before layering melody.
• Shape the melodic lines with attention to phrasing rather than mechanical articulation. This tune swings; let your players breathe through the memorable hooks to keep them from feeling rigid.
• Balance the upper woodwinds against the fuller harmony in your mid-range voices. The earworm quality depends on the main melody cutting through without drowning out supporting instrumental colors.
• Reference a quality recording of the original song during rehearsal. Hearing the source material helps students grasp the intended groove and infectious character more intuitively than description alone.

Program this early in a concert to set an energetic tone, or close out an opening set with something crowd-pleasing. It pairs well alongside standard Grade 2 wind band fare, adding contemporary flavor to a program without requiring a thematic through-line.

• Maintaining steady rhythmic groove in disco-inflected meter
• Balancing melody and harmony across mixed instrumentation
• Shaping contemporary pop melody with musicality and phrasing
• Responding to and interpreting modern musical style in concert band context