BALLERBACH

In an effort to remain commercially viable, a new track has begun. The present catalog represents the best of the past 10 years. These remaining works have proven to have the rare qualities of being popular, accessible and artistic. As Ballerbach Music enters its second decade it continues to seek out the finest music and maintain its role as a boutique publisher.

Ballerbach Music is a publisher member of ASCAP.

JBallerbach Music is a publisher member of BMI.

A Personal Note

Much has been said over the years about good and bad music for band. Every year there is a avalanche of new publications - and much of it is of questionable quality.

As a small start-up publisher in 1997, I set out to find some so-called "old" out-of-print music that I believed was still relevant and high in quality. As I researched many out-of-print and unpublished works I discovered that many were remarkably timeless and exciting. Good music is good music whether it's old or new.

John Whitwell, then the Director of Bands at Michigan State University, suggested I look into the out-of-print works of H.Owen Reed, best known for his La Fiesta Mexicana.

I contacted Dr. Reed to learn about these works and if he would consider re-publishing them. Many were well known works to an earlier generation of conductors and students.  With his help these works are now available again exclusively through Ballerbach Music. They are exciting, relevant and expertly crafted pieces that I believe have stood the test of time.

Over these past 10 years I've continued to seek out a variety of old and new music. A good example of this is the never-before published Galop from 1909 by Arthur Bird. This gem is his only surviving work for military band and was found in the Fleisher Collection at the Philadelphia Library. Another is Mendelssohn's previously unknown and unpublished Three Marches for Harmoniemusik for 12 winds. This work was found at Oxford and now is available with a detailed musicological foreward to the score by Dr. John Michael Cooper.  

There are many more works like these, as well as contemporary works by living composers, waiting to be found. Small music publishers, like this one, can serve an important role by being flexible enough to offer works that might otherwise not get published. 

The crucial key to a small publisher is you the conductor. The more you commit to only purchasing music of the highest quality, the more you ensure a higher standard of what the band repertoire can be. Thank you for supporting this effort.

~ James Syler, Composer/Publisher

   www.jamessyler.com