Alex Shapiro, composer: Homecoming

HOMECOMING
for concert wind band.

composed by Alex Shapiro

2008; Duration 8:00.
One movement work.
32 pages, 11" x 17".
Published by Activist Music (ASCAP).

Grade 4 and beyond.

Click here to order

HOMECOMING was commissioned by the U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command Band, Major Tod. A. Addison, Commander and conductor.

Premiered March 2008 by the U.S. Army TRADOC Band, Major Tod. A. Addison, conductor, Newport News, VA.

View page one of the score to Homecoming
Listen to audio clips of Homecoming live outdoor performance, May 2, 2008	1.
	2.
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Score and parts available from Activist Music for $200.00. Conductor score only: $35.00.

Homecoming is a distinctly American piece of music which ventures emotionally from doubt, to hope, and finally to celebration. Written for the soldiers of the U.S. Army TRADOC Band, the piece reflects upon wishes for the safe return of those who serve their country. Beginning with shades of concern and resolving with great joy, Homecoming seamlessly flows between traditional styles that originated in the U.S., from post-minimalist concert music to jazz. As the music grows into a waltz rhythm, welcoming smiles dance with it to the end as loved ones are reunited. In this piece, the most simple wind instrument of all, the human voice, echoes meaningful homecomings, wherever home may be and from whatever circumstance one returns.

Downloads for perusal

To download a pdf of the conductor score as well as the MP3 of the complete live performance, please email Alex for the guest access code, then click below.

	Listen to a live performance email Alex for the guest access code	Download the perusal score email Alex for the guest access code
HOMECOMING

Click to read Alex's feature article about her experience composing Homecoming, in the July 2008 issue of Sounding Board

"You have captured brilliantly the feelings one has upon separation. The "homecoming" section matches every photo of a family's embrace upon deployment return I have ever seen. I am also so happy that our generation, which began to openly say we loved pop idioms without shame, can now hear its techniques as high art and appreciated thereof!"

—Major Tod. A. Addison, Commander and conductor, U.S. Army TRADOC Band, Fort Monroe, Virginia

Homecoming premiere
Alex Shapiro addresses the audience at the premiere of Homecoming
in Newport News, Virginia

TRADOC conductors
Alex is presented a commemorative photo and dedication from the TRADOC Band
and Lt. Toulouse and Major Addison.

How did this mostly-chamber music composer get into writing for symphonic band? Listen to her describe how it happened, in this two-minute excerpt from an interview she gave to Carey Nadeau from the American Composers Forum:

Homecoming, page 1