At every concert, we perform works that we commission, both arrangements or "re-compositions" of existing works and wholly new pieces. As we begin our eighth season in September 2010, our book contains well over 130 WJO-commissioned arrangments, adding a significant body of work to the big band jazz repertoire. Last season, we commissioned our first original work, a 3-movement, 55-minute suite written by Artistic Director Mike Holober and funded with a grant from NYSCA. We premiered "Flow: In Celebration of the Hudson River" to a large and enthusiastic crowd in April 2010.
Our composer/arrangers include Mike and band members Jay Brandford, Tony Kadleck, and Ed Xiques as well as outside composers Ken Berger, Anita Brown, Matt Haviland, Mark Lopeman, Pete McGuinness, Jim McNeely, Mark Patterson, Scott Reeves, Ellen Rowe and Richard Sussman.
