Haley Woodrow
Haley Woodrow, from Bedford, Texas, was the winner of the 2016 Young Band Composition Contest, sponsored by Alfred Music. The title of her winning piece is "And it Begins." Haley Woodrow is a composer, educator and trumpet player. Woodrow served as Orchestra Director and Arranger for Cornerstone Baptist Church from 2006-2013, where she completed approximately 500 arrangements. She graduated summa cum laude with a Bachelor’s of Music in jazz studies from the University of Texas at Arlington in 2008 and earned her Master of Music in composition from Texas Christian University in 2016. She studied composition with Mr. Dan Cavanagh, Dr. George Chave, Dr. Blaise Ferrandino, and Dr. Neil Anderson-Himmelspach.
Haley Woodrow’s winning piece, "And It Begins" (link to 00-46667 when ready), is for grade 2 and now part of Alfred Music’s Young Symphonic series. "And It Begins" celebrates the early stages in the journey of becoming a "forever band-kid." The piece features a snare solo and a low-winds feature, as well as extended harmonies in a lyrical section of the piece. In Woodrow’s words,
“I’ll never forget the moment in time when an instrument was assigned to me as an incoming beginning band student. This seemingly simple decision had major implications on the seven years I spent in middle school and high school band and continues to have impact on my life today as an adult. My composition “And it Begins” celebrates new beginnings among the first of many pieces your students will surely perform! The initial melodic intro quickly gives way to a snare and low winds feature. The middle section highlights a lydian dominant sound, unique to young band literature, and then builds to a full band climax and the return of the snare solo. All instruments will enjoy playing this fresh, new composition for concert band!”
Woodrow’s musical interests are broad, and successfully hybridizing styles is one of her primary objectives when composing. She aims to allow players to contribute to the music as much as possible, since she is scarred from counting hundreds of rests as a trumpet player!
In 2015 and 2016, Woodrow received the Band Division award of the Texas Music Educators Association’s College Composition Contests for her composition And it Begins and March for Jazz, respectively. She placed 3rd in the 2016 TMEA Graduate Essay Competition for her essay, Etch a Sketch: The Benefits of Collaboration in the Compositional Process and earned the People’s Choice award for her speech presentation of her work for Symphonic Band entitled End Times in the 2016 TCU division of the 3-Minute Thesis competition. Her jazz band arrangement Something Entirely Different won first place in the 2015 Noteflight Big Band Composition Contest. Several of her compositions are published by Hal Leonard, Alfred Music, and MurphyMusicPress.
Woodrow is currently an Adjunct Instructor for Tarrant County College (Ft. Worth, Texas). She has also recently served as the Instructor of the Hillwood Middle School Composition Club in Keller ISD, where she works with middle school band students to create collaborative compositions for their concerts. She believes providing an avenue for students to perform the music they compose at a young age will be of the upmost educational and creative value. Since 2004, Woodrow has taught many students privately, independently and for various school districts.
Woodrow has been commissioned by the TCU Trombone Summit, the Rising Star High School Jazz Band, the Santo High School Marching Band and the Killian Middle School Saxophone Trio. Her concert works have received performances at the TMEA convention, multiple SCI conferences, the MUW Music by Women Festival, the Houston Underground Saxophone Competition, and various Texas and Kansas Jazz Festivals. She has also been hired by many churches including Oak Cliff Bible Church, Westside Baptist Church and East Dallas Christian Church to create horn section, rhythm section and orchestration arrangements.
Her husband, trombonist Jonathan Woodrow, and she are also active in creating horn section recordings in their home studio for artists such as Norman Hutchins, Lamar Campbell and Earl Bynum. Her self-authored curriculum The Practical Musician was created as a training course for musicians seeking to become contributing musicians in a gospel church environment. For more information on her music, visit her website.
Haley Woodrow’s winning piece, "And It Begins" (link to 00-46667 when ready), is for grade 2 and now part of Alfred Music’s Young Symphonic series. "And It Begins" celebrates the early stages in the journey of becoming a "forever band-kid." The piece features a snare solo and a low-winds feature, as well as extended harmonies in a lyrical section of the piece. In Woodrow’s words,
“I’ll never forget the moment in time when an instrument was assigned to me as an incoming beginning band student. This seemingly simple decision had major implications on the seven years I spent in middle school and high school band and continues to have impact on my life today as an adult. My composition “And it Begins” celebrates new beginnings among the first of many pieces your students will surely perform! The initial melodic intro quickly gives way to a snare and low winds feature. The middle section highlights a lydian dominant sound, unique to young band literature, and then builds to a full band climax and the return of the snare solo. All instruments will enjoy playing this fresh, new composition for concert band!”
Woodrow’s musical interests are broad, and successfully hybridizing styles is one of her primary objectives when composing. She aims to allow players to contribute to the music as much as possible, since she is scarred from counting hundreds of rests as a trumpet player!
In 2015 and 2016, Woodrow received the Band Division award of the Texas Music Educators Association’s College Composition Contests for her composition And it Begins and March for Jazz, respectively. She placed 3rd in the 2016 TMEA Graduate Essay Competition for her essay, Etch a Sketch: The Benefits of Collaboration in the Compositional Process and earned the People’s Choice award for her speech presentation of her work for Symphonic Band entitled End Times in the 2016 TCU division of the 3-Minute Thesis competition. Her jazz band arrangement Something Entirely Different won first place in the 2015 Noteflight Big Band Composition Contest. Several of her compositions are published by Hal Leonard, Alfred Music, and MurphyMusicPress.
Woodrow is currently an Adjunct Instructor for Tarrant County College (Ft. Worth, Texas). She has also recently served as the Instructor of the Hillwood Middle School Composition Club in Keller ISD, where she works with middle school band students to create collaborative compositions for their concerts. She believes providing an avenue for students to perform the music they compose at a young age will be of the upmost educational and creative value. Since 2004, Woodrow has taught many students privately, independently and for various school districts.
Woodrow has been commissioned by the TCU Trombone Summit, the Rising Star High School Jazz Band, the Santo High School Marching Band and the Killian Middle School Saxophone Trio. Her concert works have received performances at the TMEA convention, multiple SCI conferences, the MUW Music by Women Festival, the Houston Underground Saxophone Competition, and various Texas and Kansas Jazz Festivals. She has also been hired by many churches including Oak Cliff Bible Church, Westside Baptist Church and East Dallas Christian Church to create horn section, rhythm section and orchestration arrangements.
Her husband, trombonist Jonathan Woodrow, and she are also active in creating horn section recordings in their home studio for artists such as Norman Hutchins, Lamar Campbell and Earl Bynum. Her self-authored curriculum The Practical Musician was created as a training course for musicians seeking to become contributing musicians in a gospel church environment. For more information on her music, visit her website.