CONSORTIUM OPPORTUNITY

TIMPANI CONCERTO WITH BAND

The Mid America Freedom Band is thrilled to seek consortium members to join in the costs of a new timpani concerto with band. Three of today’s most exciting composers — Jennifer Jolley, Anthony R. Green, and Olivia Kieffer — will each contribute a movement to the whole work. The impetus behind this new work was the purchase of MAFB’s new set timpani made possible by generous donors and the Jon Sims Endowment Fund for the Arts. Additional funds for this commissioning project were made available, in part, from the Missouri Arts Council and ArtsKC.

MAFB will serve as lead commissioner for the project. To keep this project accessible to a variety of ensemble budgets and sizes, consortium members can join for $150.00 (split payment options available, if need be). MAFB will premiere the work in Spring 2025 after which consortium members will have exclusivity of performance through May 31, 2026.

This new work will be approximately 9-14 minutes long with each movement being ~3-4.5 minutes. The solo part will be written for an advanced performer and the ensemble portions will be roughly a Grade IV on the American Band College Music Grading Chart.


The full instrumentation for the piece is as follow:

1  Solo Timpani (five drums - Adams Revolutionary for the premiere)

1 Piccolo
2 Flutes
2 Oboes (1 English Horn as Oboe 2 doubler; will be cued)
2 Bassoons
3 B-flat Clarinets
1 Bass Clarinet (with no low C)
2 Alto Saxophones
1 Tenor Saxophone
1 Baritone Saxophone

3 B-flat Trumpets
4 F Horns
3 Trombones
1 Euphonium (TC Baritone part will be included)
2 Tubas

Percussion (4 players)
1 Mallet Percussion
3 Percussion (no pitched mallet percussion)

Additional optional parts for contra-alto clarinet, contrabass clarinet, and string bass may be included

Score and parts will be made available to consortium members digitally in April 2025. Payment must be made in full before July 15, 2025 in order to receive access to the score and parts. If interested in joining the consortium or if you have any questions, please email info@freedomband.com.


ABOUT THE COMPOSERS

Jennifer Jolley (Movement I)

Jennifer Jolley is a composer, conductor, and professor person. Her work is founded on the belief that the pleasures and excesses of music have the unique potential to engage political and provocative subjects. Addressing a range of topics such as climate change, #MeToo, feminist history, and the abuses of the Putin regime, Jennifer strives to write pieces that are equally enjoyable and meaningful.

Jennifer’s works have been performed by ensembles worldwide. She has received commissions from the National Endowment for the Arts, the MidAmerican Center for Contemporary Music, the Left Coast Chamber Ensemble, Quince Ensemble, and many others.

Jennifer received degrees from the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music and the University of Southern California’s Thornton School of Music. She is now an Assistant Professor of Music Theory and Composition in the Department of Music at Lehman College in the Bronx and was a Fulbright Scholar to Egypt in 2023. She has been a composition faculty member at Interlochen Arts Camp since 2015.

Anthony R. Green (Movement II)

The creative output of Anthony R. Green includes musical and visual creations, interpretations of original works or works in the repertoire, collaborations, educational outreach, and more. Behind all of his artistic endeavors are the ideals of equality and freedom, which manifest themselves in diverse ways in a composition, a performance, a collaboration, or social justice work.

As a composer, his works have been presented in over 20 countries by Gabriela Díaz (violin), Wendy Richman (viola), and Alarm Will Sound, to name a few. He has received commissions from Community Music Works, Make Music Boston, Celebrity Series Boston, the Robert McCormick Percussion Group, and various soloists and ensembles. He has been a resident artist at the Kimmel Harding Nelson Center for the Arts (Nebraska), Virginia Center for the Creative Arts, Escape to Create (Florida), Visby International Centre for Composers (Sweden), Space/Time (Scotland), atelier:performance (Germany), and the Bemis Center for Contemporary Arts (Nebraska). As a performer, he has worked with student and emerging composers, as well as established composers such as David Liptak, Renée C. Baker, Steve Reich, and George Crumb.

Through music and entrepreneurship, Green comments on many issues related to social justice, including immigration, civil rights, the historical links between slavery and current racial injustice in the U.S., the contributions of targeted and/or minority groups to humanity, and more. Green’s most important social justice work has been with Castle of our Skins, a concert and education series organization dedicated to celebrating Black artistry through music.

His solo and collaborative work has been recognized by grants from Meet the Composer, the Argosy Foundation, New Music USA, and the American Composers Forum as a McKnight Visiting Composer.

Olivia Kieffer (Movement III)

Olivia Kieffer is a composer, percussionist, toy pianist, and educator originally from Wisconsin. Her music has been described as “immediately attractive,” “like a knife of light,” and “honest, to the point, and joyful!”

She feels at home in both the classical and rock worlds, and was an active performer in Atlanta’s vibrant contemporary classical music scene for over a decade, including her work as bandleader and drummer for the 7-piece chamber rock band Clibber Jones Ensemble. Olivia is former adjunct music faculty at Reinhardt University (2009–2017), where she taught percussion and World Music. She is the newest member of smol ensemble, a quintet of percussionists and pianists. 

She earned a DMA in Composition at University of Miami in 2023. Her musical mentors include percussionists Allen Otte and Stuart Gerber, and composers Marc Mellits, Douwe Eisenga, William Susman, Jon Welstead, Charles N. Mason, and Lansing McLoskey. She has degrees from University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, Georgia State University, and University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. 

Her compositions for concert band, toy piano, saxophone, percussion, guitar, and chamber ensembles have been performed nationally and internationally since 2012, and her music can be heard on albums by toy pianist Amy O’Dell, Deuson Pilkington Duo, Clibber Jones Ensemble, saxophonist Nicki Roman, and fivebyfive.

Her work as a musician has been highlighted in Journal for the International Alliance for Women in Music, ArtsAtl, TomTom Magazine, WABE-FM (90.1), Moving Classics TV, and the 1track podcast. She is a guest contributor to NewMusicBox and EarRelevant. In 2017 Olivia was Composer in Residence at the Florida International Toy Piano Festival and the Mana Saxophone Institute. 

Olivia is on the organizing committee for the SoundNOW Festival and serves on both the Percussive Arts Society Diversity Alliance and the Composition Committee.

 She currently teaches at Grand Valley State University.


ABOUT MID AMERICA FREEDOM BAND

The Mid America Freedom Band provides a safe space for instrumental performance opportunities, outreach, and social advocacy for music enthusiasts within the LGBTQ+ and ally spectrum of the Kansas City area to create an inclusive community that fosters and celebrates diversity.