HALEY WOODROW
COMPOSER, ARRANGER, EDUCATOR
HALEY WOODROW
COMPOSER, ARRANGER, EDUCATOR
Blog Articles
My blog features articles on everything composition – from the creative process, to performance, to entrepreneurship, and even composition in education.
Listening to Artistic Music, Score Study and Composition Planning
This article has been updated with embedded videos that include three online lessons on Listening, Score Study and Composition Planning in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. It works well as a supplement for ensembles who either have performed or intended to perform my "In Two Places", but can also be used for other educational purposes as well. Contact me through my contact form if you'd like the accompanying exercises in PDf format you can assign to your students, and please consider doing a Skype or Zoom call with me and your students as a part of the educational effort!
Grade 1 Band
This article will discuss fourteen of the most played works in the Grade 1 Band category of the Texas Prescribed Music List (PML). I am currently hard at work this Spring creating three new band pieces, and have been intensively studying scores to find patterns as to what the most popular pieces have in common, as well as what makes each piece unique. This part 1 article will discuss the patterns I have discovered in comparing the pieces in terms of key, meter, tempo, difficulty level, theme, length, ranges, melody and harmony.
2022 Chamber Music Composition Program at Tarrant County College
Learning how to fulfill commissions is a necessary skill for composers! In this article I'll cover what I've learned so far on the subject, both through my experience with my compositions, as well as with the thirty compositions our composers have written in the past three years through the Tarrant County College Chamber Music Composition Program.
2021 Chamber Music Composition Program at Tarrant County College
Learning how to fulfill commissions is a necessary skill for composers! In this article I'll cover what I've learned so far on the subject, both through my experience with my compositions, as well as with the thirty compositions our composers have written in the past three years through the Tarrant County College Chamber Music Composition Program.
The Should-Be Parallel Nature of Creative Process and Entrepreneurship
One of the best conversations I have ever had on the topic of composing happened a little over a year ago during lunch with two of my former classmates, and the esteemed Professor of Composition from the Juilliard School, John Corigliano.
March of the Shadows
In response to COVID-19, I have created music for band students to play at home! I have taken the melody and "fun lines" from my "March of the Shadows", pasted them all into one part and then copied the music for all instruments. Also included are accompaniment tracks to play along to! Please feel free to embed in LMS systems such as Blackboard and Canvas. And if your students enjoy the music, please consider purchasing and programming from this website for the 2020-2021 school year! I do accept Purchase Orders.
Chamber Music Composition Program at Tarrant County College
This summer 2020, we are excited to offer the third annual Chamber Music Composition Program, hosted at the Tarrant County College Northeast campus with Mid Cities Brass Quintet. Both myself and Dr. Uriah Rinzel will be returning as the Composition Faculty! As of this writing, COVID-19 is currently a global pandemic, significantly effecting all of our daily lives with most counties in the U.S. under a shelter in place order. Our program this year will therefore be a "pandemic" themed program and will proceed on-ground or completely online, depending on the mandates set forth by the state.
A New Day
In response to COVID-19, I have created music for band students to play at home! I have taken the melody and "fun lines" from my "A New Day", pasted them all into one part and then copied the music for all instruments. Also included are accompaniment tracks to play along to! Please feel free to embed in LMS systems such as Blackboard and Canvas. And if your students enjoy the music, please consider purchasing and programming from this website for the 2020-2021 school year! I do accept Purchase Orders.
2020 Florida Music Educators Association Conference
What a great way to start the year! I was commissioned to write a work for the Florida Middle School All State Band, and attended the premiere at the 2020 Florida Music Educators Association Convention in Tampa.
In Two Places
Well, I’m finally back from my unintentional hiatus from the blog. 2019 has proven to be a pretty incredible year so far; in large part due to me becoming a mom for the first time, as well as my current most popular work for band, "In Two Places" receiving an increasing number of performances. The new dichotomy present in my life – between being a parent and an artist, leaves me once again feeling like I am in two places!
Why Consortiums Work
This year in 2018, I organized a consortium for the first time, and the experience was such a positive, productive experience I want to let everyone know my thoughts about why consortiums work.
Saxophone Consortium For Two New Works!
I am putting together a consortium for two new works for saxophone! I'll cap the consortium at ten ensembles, and will write a new Saxophone Quartet entitled "Chasing Light", as well as rework my composition "Transition" for oboe and piano for soprano saxophone and piano.
My Texas PML Project
Welcome to my blog, which has been a smaller thing for me in the past, and is now a bigger thing in the present. You can expect to read about my thoughts and experiences on Music Education, Entrepreneurship, Worship in the Arts, as well as interviews on relevant topics and some about my work life and creative process!
Creating Composers Clinic
I would not be a professional, freelancing musician today if it were not for the band programs I participated in throughout middle school and high school.
End Times
During the summer of 2015, while attending Gateway Church in Southlake, Texas; I witnessed an incredible five-sermon series given by Pastor Jimmy Evans regarding the 2nd coming of Christ. After hearing his thought-provoking insights into the future final events of human history, I chose to create a musical work to both depict these events and satisfy the Master's Thesis requirement for my M.M. in Composition at Texas Christian University.
Etch-A-Sketch
Etch-A-Sketch: The benefit of collaboration within the compositional process is the 3rd place winner in the Graduate Division of the Texas Music Educators Association's 2016 Essay Contest for College Students! The article features conversations with the late Dr. David Maslanka, Dr. Frank Ticheli and Mr. William Owens.