The Summoning: Concert Band Conductor Score

Barrett writes with an instinct for dramatic gesture that keeps audiences engaged from the first note. The spatial brass writing (soloists positioned throughout your hall) creates an architectural richness that doesn't require a massive ensemble, while the percussion punctuation and dynamic swings give your band genuine ownership of the piece's intensity.

The Summoning unfolds like a storm gathering and breaking. Brass voices emerge from the edges of your performance space before everything converges into moments of real turbulence and fractured energy. What makes it distinctive is how those chaotic passages resolve into something genuinely lyrical and flowing, creating earned moments of beauty rather than simple relief.

This work suits concert bands looking for a vehicle that commands audience attention without requiring massive resources or advanced technical demands. It bridges the middle school and high school competitive calendar while offering enough musical sophistication to satisfy serious musicians.

• Treat the opening brass soloists as storytellers rather than isolated voices; they set up the architectural space that the rest of the band will activate.
• Mark the transitions between chaotic and lyrical sections clearly in rehearsal so players understand the dramatic architecture, not just the technical demands.
• Balance the thunderous percussion hits against the full ensemble so they punctuate rather than obliterate the musical line.
• The flowing melodies in the resolution sections reward careful attention to phrase shaping and sectional blend; let them breathe after the turbulence.

Program this as a centerpiece for a concert where you want to shift energy and mood, it works equally well as an opener that establishes stakes or a second-half anchor after lighter fare. The five-minute-forty-five-second duration and contest/festival designation make it a natural fit for fall festival appearances or winter concert programming that needs a contemporary anchor.

• Ensemble intonation across separated spatial positions
• Dynamic contrast and dramatic phrasing in contemporary contexts
• Coordinating rhythmic and harmonic layers with contrasting musical characters
• Responding to contemporary notations and interpretive gesture from the conductor
• Sustaining attention through structural shifts and textural disruption