Urban Dances: Concert Band Conductor Score & Parts

$95.00 USD

Urban Dances: Concert Band Conductor Score & Parts

Name: Urban Dances: Concert Band Conductor Score & Parts
Brand: Alfred Music
SKU: 98-B1272
Price: 95.00 USD
Availability: InStock

By Erik Morales

Grade: 4

Item: 98-B1272

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Drawing inspiration from elements of today's popular music, this serious concert piece focuses on rhythm as the primary developmental tool. Featuring a large battery of percussion, the piece uses the full gamut of colors available to the concert band. Heroic figures in the brass soar over the rhythmic pulses as the piece continues to build to a dynamic conclusion. Innovative and fresh!

Don't just read it, hear it, play along with it, and watch your students grow with it. In MakeMusic Cloud, Urban Dances: Concert Band 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: FJH Concert Band

Publisher: The FJH Music Company, Inc.

UPC: 674398218202

SKU: 98-B1272

More about this title

About the Composer: Erik Morales

Erik Morales has built a prolific career bridging the worlds of serious composition and music education. Born in New York City in 1966, he studied composition at Florida International University and earned his bachelor's degree from the University of Louisiana at Lafayette in 1989. His arranging work for a south Florida high school marching band (beginning in 1985) launched him into the educational publishing world, and since 2002 his wind, orchestral, jazz, and chamber works have circulated globally.

With the trumpet as his primary instrument, Morales has made significant contributions to the trumpet repertoire. His ensemble works have earned first-place honors at the 2006 and 2008 National Trumpet Competitions, and his Concerto for Trumpet in C and Piano premiered at the 2009 International Trumpet Guild conference. In 2016, he was inducted into the Louisiana Association for Jazz Education's Hall of Fame. His catalog now exceeds 150 published works, many of them deliberately designed to serve both artistic and pedagogical aims.

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Why we love this

Morales constructs this piece around rhythm rather than melody, giving your section leaders and soloists a foundation that's immediately graspable while keeping the writing sophisticated. The percussion battery gets real work to do, not mere timekeeper roles, and the brass writing has genuine heroic weight. At Grade 4, it delivers the kind of fresh energy that keeps students engaged without requiring virtuosic technique.

What to expect

Contemporary and propulsive, with the swagger of modern pop rhythms undergirding brass writing that soars. The piece builds from rhythmic excitement into something genuinely heroic, leaving audiences energized rather than reflective.

Who it's for

Directors programming a Grade 4 festival or concert who want modern rhythmic energy without sacrificing artistic integrity. Students benefit from learning how today's popular music vocabulary can fuel serious concert literature.

How to get the most out of it

Lock the rhythmic foundation early in sectionals; the piece's momentum depends on the battery staying unified through tempo changes and dynamic shifts.
Let the brass soloists breathe into their heroic figures rather than forcing them. These lines need space to sing over the rhythmic texture beneath.
Emphasize the color shifts between sections of the percussion battery during rehearsal. Morales writes for the full spectrum, so clarity between instruments matters as much as the overall pulse.
Build the final push gradually across several rehearsals. The trajectory to the dynamic conclusion is the piece's architecture; resist the temptation to arrive there too soon.

How to use it

Pair this with a traditional ballad or classical overture to show students how rhythm-driven and melodic-driven pieces can coexist on the same concert. Its modern sensibility also works well as a closer or opening piece, signaling that your band can honor both contemporary and classical voices.