That’s a Wrap!
There were two forces originally that led me to arranging music for small ensembles. Christmas music and Wedding music. At the time I really started writing, it was for a brass quartet. Styles and the wedding industry changed, traditional classical music for brass was being used less often for wedding ceremonies, and I found myself arranging a lot of Christmas music. I’ve always enjoyed Christmas music. Arranging, playing, listening, etc. A lot of the newer material is still quartet based, but it’s becoming more with added instruments, vocals, other ensembles, etc.
New Christmas/Holiday music for 2025 included:
White Christmas (based on the Drifters recording) – Arranged for Brass Quartet, Sax Quartet, Brass Quartet with drums and vocals, and even a crazy ensemble of four clarinets and four trombones.
The Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire) for Brass Quartet, Voice & Drums
Mele Kalikimaka for Brass Quartet, Voice & Drums and for Brass Quartet & Drums. I think a Sax Quartet version will be around before the end of 2026. Edit: It’s done! White Christmas for Sax Quartet
Winter Wonderland/Don’t Worry Be Happy – This is basically the Pentatonix mashup rearranged for Brass Quartet and Drums.
Some revisions to some selections from the Nutcracker for Brass Quartet were made as well. I think I wrote them well over 20 years ago, but (I hope) I made them better or more playable as a quartet this past season. These are available for free or send me a cup of coffee!
Thanks for reading! I already have a couple in the planning stages for Christmas in 2026. If you have any Christmas tunes you’d like to have for your group, drop me a line about it!
Mike
