So. You have three tubas, a dulcimer, and a handbell quartet who'd like to play a piece together,
and shockingly -- shockingly! -- there's no available music for that combination of instruments.
Or maybe your handbell group has an urge to play a popular song that there's no handbell arrangement of --
say, Michael W. Smith's "Friends" or Nirvana's "Smells Like Teen Spirit" -- but you have no idea how
to get the rights to play this piece, let alone getting music for your group to play from. Or perhaps
you're looking to celebrate a member's 25th anniversary with your bell choir by trying to find a piece where his
C4/D4 position is the focal point of the composition (which, of course, it never is).
Well. Those sorts of problems are why Silhouette Music Press, in a partnership with composer/editor Matthew Prins and
Thelma Dawn Esprit Publishing, is now welcoming requests for handbell/handchime commissions (in conjunction with other
instruments if desired). Mr. Prins has composed and arranged pieces in numerous genres, but he has
a particular interest and talent in solo and ensemble arranging/composing, arrangements of popular music,
unusual hymn arrangements, composing for unorthodox combinations of instruments, Catholic music,
and level 5-to-6 handbell music (as well as ensemble music of similar difficulty).
Commissions through Silhouette Music Press start at $120 and, of course, can go way, way up from there.
(A back-of-the-envelope calculation figures that an hour-long handbell symphony would set you back...oh, let's just say $12,000.)
Commissions include two sets of professionally printed copies of the piece, including a specially designed silhouette cover page; a dedication line to be put on your copies
of the music and all copies sold commerically (if applicable); and, you know, a piece of music written to
your specifications, which is pretty neat if you ask me. At the present time, most commissions can be completed
in a three-month period from signing a contract, although jobs can sometimes be completed more quickly if you
ask really nicely. Or pay more money. (Hour-long symphonies will take just a wee bit longer to finish.)
If you're interested or merely curious, send a note to silhouettistmp@yahoo.com giving
us what you're kind of thinking of, and we'll go from there.
