May 18, 2022—Louisville, CO

MakeMusic and Alfred Music are thrilled to announce that Brian Balmages, respected and world-renowned composer, conductor, educator, and clinician, has joined the team as Director of Digital Education and MakeMusic Publications.

MakeMusic Publications will be an imprint of Alfred Music and will embody Balmages’ strong commitment to publish outstanding composers and compelling band and orchestra music at all levels. Further, this new collaboration will allow Balmages to explore the connection between educational content and the MakeMusic digital platforms.

Brian Balmages comes to MakeMusic and Alfred Music with a wealth of experience. His music has been performed throughout the world with commissions ranging from elementary schools to professional orchestras. Notable premieres have included the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, “Pershing’s Own” United States Army Band and countless international, state, and local groups. Most recently, he composed a new work, “Kyiv, 2022,” written as a powerful sequel to “Moscow, 1941” in response to the recent invasion of Ukraine. Available now from Total Sheet Music for both Concert Band and Symphony Orchestra, all net proceeds of the initial release are going to relief organizations on the ground in Ukraine. The music community’s powerful response since its release 2 months ago has now surpassed a stunning $50,000 in aid and confirmed performances in over 41 states and 5 countries.

Chris Bernotas, Director of Instrumental School Methods and Repertoire says, “It is a pleasure to welcome Brian aboard! I am looking forward to seeing the innovative ways he propels MakeMusic and Alfred Music’s digital education strategy as well as continuing to provide wonderful content for the music education community. His experience will bring a unique perspective to the exciting evolution of music education in a digital world.”

Brian Balmages adds, “It is hard to describe how excited I am about the possibilities moving forward. Many people know how passionate I am about music education and how strongly I believe in the power of music to bring about significant change in the world. Combining that passion with the incredible resources available at Alfred and MakeMusic is a dream come true. There is no question that music education is evolving rapidly, and I look forward to creating new print and digital content that will impact the youngest students and the most seasoned professionals.”

View Brian Balmages’ press message here.

ABOUT BRIAN BALMAGES

Brian Balmages (b. 1975) is an award-winning composer and conductor. His music has been performed throughout the world with commissions ranging from elementary schools to professional orchestras. World premieres include prestigious venues such as Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy Center, and Meyerhoff Symphony Hall. His music was also performed as part of the 2013 Presidential Inaugural Prayer Service, which was attended by both President Obama and Vice President Biden. He is a recipient of the A. Austin Harding Award from the American School Band Directors Association, won the 2020 NBA William D. Revelli Composition Contest with his work Love and Light, and was awarded the inaugural James Madison University Distinguished Alumni Award from the School of Visual and Performing Arts. In the same year, he was commissioned by his other alma mater, the University of Miami, to compose music for the inauguration of the institution’s 6th president, Dr. Julio Frenk.

As a conductor, Mr. Balmages enjoys regular engagements with all-state and regional bands and orchestras, as well as university and professional ensembles throughout the world. Notable guest conducting appearances have included the Midwest Clinic, Western International Band Clinic, College Band Directors Conference, American School Band Directors Association National Conference, numerous state ASTA conferences and others. Additional conducting appearances have included the Kennedy Center and Meyerhoff Symphony Hall as well as band and orchestra engagements in Australia, Canada and Italy. For more information, visit brianbalmages.com.

ABOUT MAKEMUSIC

MakeMusic®, Inc. is a world leader in music technology whose mission is to develop and market solutions that transform how music is composed, taught, learned, and performed. MakeMusic’s SmartMusic® interactive music learning software transforms the way students practice. With an online library of thousands of band, orchestra, and vocal pieces, students practice with background accompaniment and receive immediate feedback on their performance. Teachers leverage SmartMusic to individualize instruction and document the progress of every student. For more than 25 years, Finale® has been the industry standard in music notation software, enabling musicians worldwide to create, edit, audition, print, and publish musical scores. MakeMusic is also the creator of Garritan® sound libraries, providing state-of-the-art virtual instruments with the playback quality of a live performance, and MusicXML™, the internet-friendly way to publish musical scores, distribute interactive sheet music, and share music notation with a wide variety of software programs. Additional information can be found at makemusic.com.

ABOUT ALFRED MUSIC

Alfred Music, the leader in music education for over 100 years, produces educational, reference, pop, and performance materials for teachers, students, professionals, and hobbyists spanning every musical instrument, style, and difficulty level. Alfred Music is located in Los Angeles, with offices around the world, including Germany, Singapore, and the United Kingdom.

Since 1922, Alfred Music has been dedicated to helping people learn, teach, and play music. Alfred Music currently has over 150,000 active titles and represents a wide range of well-known publications—from methods like Alfred’s Basic Guitar, Alfred’s Basic Piano Library, Premier Piano Course, Sound Innovations, and Suzuki, to artists like Bruce Springsteen, Led Zeppelin, The Rolling Stones, and The Who, to brands like Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, Star Wars, The Wizard of Oz, Rolling Stone magazine, and Billboard.

In addition to its own titles, Alfred Music distributes products from over 150 companies, including advance music, Belwin, Dover Publications, Drum Channel, Faber Music, Highland/Etling, Jamey Aebersold Jazz, Kalmus, MakeMusic, Penguin, and WEA.

Alfred Music is now also paired with MakeMusic, which is part of Peaksware Holdings, LLC portfolio of companies, to transform how music is composed, published, taught, learned, and performed by bringing together the leaders in educational music publishing and music technology.