Copying for Scott Beckett

Scott Beckett is the Band Director at Amarillo College and teaches theory and trumpet. He is a very fine player who is also a member of the Amarillo Symphony. Scott wanted to perform a trumpet solo and concert band work by Jean Baptiste Alban called Fantasie Brillante. It's a great theme and variations piece that really shows off Scott's virtuosic playing. He was scheduled to perform the piece with the Tascosa High School Band and later with his own Amarillo College Concert Band.

When Scott received the parts, it was pretty clear that he needed to have some Finale work done. The parts were all hand written. We often get hand written parts in the Amarillo Symphony and some are better than others to read but the parts to Fantasie Brillante were even more difficult to read than anything I had ever seen. I've never seen multiple ledger lines in flute parts written at extreme angles before. It was obvious that Scott needed someone to copy the parts into Finale so that his bands would not have to spend valuable rehearsal time "deciphering" the manuscript.

As I entered the notes in Finale from the individual parts (there was no score), Scott and I did some editing. I think it turned out a lot better. Scott has already performed Fantasie Brillante with the Tascosa High School Band and will be performing the piece again with the AC Concert Band on April 6, 2008.