Analytical, interpretative, and performance guides for conductors and soloists to John Mackey's Harvest: concerto for trombone, Drum music: concerto for percussion, and Antique violences: concerto for trumpet

John Mackey has been one of the most popular composers of music for wind bands and ensembles since Redline Tango was awarded the Sousa / Ostwald Award by the American Bandmasters Association in 2005. However, there is a lack of scholarly work on his music. The gap that exists between Mackey’s influence on the wind band and the lack of scholarly work on his music is what this document intends to address.

The purpose of this study is to examine three of John Mackey’s concertos – Harvest: Concerto for Trombone (2010), Drum Music: Concerto for Percussion (2011), and Antique Violences: Concerto for Trumpet (2017) – and produce three guides. The first guide is an analysis of the musical content, the second is a conductor’s guide that addresses technical issues, interpretation, and physical gesture, and the final guide is a performer’s guide for soloists that addresses technical and interpretative issues and examines Mackey’s use of extended techniques.

These guides are augmented with insight obtained through interviews with John Mackey, with the soloist who premiered the work, and with a prominent conductor associated with the piece. The data gathered from Mackey, the conductors, and the performers are incorporated into the guides.

This study also presents interpretive information on John Mackey’s music that apply not only to the study pieces but are generalizable to the whole of his catalogue. This information is relevant because of the lack of scholarship on John Mackey and the fresh perspectives discovered during the interview process.