Highlights from Dreamgirls: Jazz Ensemble Conductor Score & Parts

Roger Holmes has captured the kinetic urgency of Dreamgirls' most electrifying moments in a medley that keeps ensemble players engaged from the first downbeat. The writing balances accessibility at Grade 4 with genuine sophistication in voice leading and rhythmic texture, so your students play something substantial without drowning in technical complexity. It's the kind of arrangement that makes contemporary repertoire feel as natural to a jazz ensemble as a standard.

Confident, celebratory, and impossibly cool. The arrangements pulse with the theatrical polish and raw energy that made Dreamgirls such a phenomenon, translated into a sound that feels native to the jazz idiom rather than borrowed from it.

Jazz ensemble directors who want contemporary Broadway in their rotation without sacrificing musical substance. Students at this level gain exposure to the harmonic language of modern musical theater while working on the sectional independence and groove awareness that define good jazz playing.

• Keep the groove locked between rhythm section and horn lines; the energy lives in precision, not loose swing. These tunes need crisp articulation and confident time.
• Layer your dynamics carefully across the medley's transitions. Each song needs its own character, so resist the urge to maintain one volume level from start to finish.
• Emphasize the melody in the lead voice during tutti sections so the arrangement's harmonic richness doesn't obscure what audiences came to hear.
• Balance the vocal snap of the rhythm section against the warmth of the saxes. This music thrives when both elements occupy equal space.

Open a concert with this medley to establish mood and audience connection immediately, or place it in the second half as a palate cleanser between heavier works. The pieces work equally well as a unified statement or programmed individually if your ensemble needs flexibility.

• Reading uneven phrase lengths and syncopated rhythms characteristic of Broadway jazz orchestration
• Balancing written melody with underlying harmonic groove across ensemble sections
• Executing stylistically appropriate articulation and phrasing for theatrical music
• Navigating transitions between contrasting tempos and feels within a medley structure
• Listening critically to blend and balance in multi-voiced jazz arrangements