New Year Goodies

Well, folks, it's a new year, and with that come new goals, but first, let's recap some of the events of 2013:

- graduated from the Naval School of Music Unit Leader Course - which grew my confidence in a lot of not only musical ability, but leadership as well. Especially important: my confidence in composing and arranging music.

- finally got a new website up (the previous hadn't been updated in well over a year) with new content being added at minimum, quarterly.

- updating and building a fan-base on SoundCloud, and I'll soon be making a push to Reverb Nation and Band Camp.

- to caveat on the point above, for a long while, my website (www.michaelandrewnewell.com) was neglected because of SoundCloud, Facebook, Twitter, etc., but now it stands as the hub of all these social networking and music sites. 

- arranged a piece for the Cadillac Symphony Orchestra of Cadillac, MI titled O Fair Art Thou, originally written by Alessandro Grandi, and it was performed in November 2013.

- wrote 24 arrangements for the Quantico Marine Corps Band's small ensembles for the Christmas Caroling season.

- during the winter break, I finished my Music History class with an A, and puts me one class closer to finishing my degree (6 more left!) and I also have been composing "tunes" nonstop since my class concluded.

- registered my first two pieces (concert band) with the U.S. Copyright Office in December.

Some stuff to expect in 2014:

- I have about 10 concert band pieces I've completed, but only about four are ready to sell/buy (mostly because of editing and formatting), but also to find any last minute mistakes before they're committed to finality when submitting to the Copyright Office. Likewise, I have jazz band charts and chamber pieces I need to push the final touches on and submit those as well. All these things equal original compositions for many different ensembles that will be ready for the public to purchase, or *hint* we can work out some sort of arrangement for educational institutions…..

- Adding MORE content to my website (additionally, external music sites like Reverb Nation and Band Camp).

- Get my resumé up and running and also extend my services on Stage32.com, Triplescoopmusic.com, Fiverr.com, and also investigate HitRecord.org a little more in-depth - all of these with the intention of collaborating or providing music for film, television, photography / videography spots, and more.

- I will be reaching out to local high school about custom marching music and field shows in a collaboration with AJ Rasure of White Umbrella Photography for the upcoming Fall season.

- I'm going to write as much music, preferably original or public domain works for as many ensembles as possible and for whomever will play them - so get your requests in NOW!

- I'm going to be recording a CD of saxophone quartet music during this next year that complies with the point above.There will undoubtably be more goals I add to my list throughout the year, so stay tuned. If you haven't spread the word to your fellow musicians, friends, or anyone interested in supporting original compositions, please send them to my Facebook page or website and we'll connect!

Take care, all.