Back in 2008 I created a page at my Mandotopia website that lists the numerous pieces that I have composed for mandolin orchestra and ensembles since the late 1980s. There are 29 pieces listed there today. The majority of these pieces are linked to freely available pdfs of the score and parts, with some exceptions.
Four of the pieces are published by the good people at Haus der Musik Trekel in Hamburg and are only available from them, at a modest cost. Seven of the pieces listed on my page are still waiting for me to take the time to create a page with links to the sheet music. (This takes more time than you might think.)
The "news" that leads me to create this post is that I have recently made two more of my pieces completely free. I previously had linked to the scores of these pieces while keeping the parts behind a primitive pay wall. This was an interesting experiment for me but I've now decided it's easier to be consistent in my approach and so I am now offering free access to the parts of these pieces as well. They are 2010's Off to Minnesota and 2015's Western Home Polka.
You can find the link to the music for these and read a little about them at my Mandolin Orchestra and Ensemble Compositions webpage.
My plan is to finally create pages and links for the remaining 7 pieces on my list and, possibly, to add a few more pieces as I go along. I'll post notices about that work in this thread over time.
I hope that I'm not violating forum guidelines by posting this announcement. While it's true that I mention the possibility of donating money in support of this work, everything on the page (with the exception of the 4 pieces published by Trekel) is actually free to download today.
My hope is that mandolin orchestra and ensemble members will find some of my music interesting and fun to play. I am extremely honored and grateful that so many groups have chosen to do just that over the last 30+ years.
I also hope that other composers, and would-be composers, might find some value in checking out these scores. I have certainly learned a lot from studying the scores that Victor Kioulaphides (http://www.paperclipdesign.com/vk/) has so generously shared with us over the years in this forum. I believe that it's never too early, or too late, to try your hand at writing music for mandolin.
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