Recently Posted

Aloha Oe for Solo Harp

janet — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 22:23:43 +0000

For Lever or Pedal Harp

Music by Lili'uokalani
Arranged by Janet Lanier

There are no pedal or lever changes required in this 2 page arrangement

Individual copy - $1.50 (please click on "add to cart" below)

Price: $1.50

Greensleeves Variations for Harp and Small Orchestra

janet — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 21:33:38 +0000

English Tradtional
Arranged and orchestrated by J. Lanier

Instrumentation: Harp soloist, Piccolo (or flute), Violin 1 & 2, Viola, Cello, Double Bass, and Tambourine

Full score and parts - $15.00

For those without an ensemble, there is a harp part and MP3 accompaniment available for this arrangement. Click here for more details.

A 22 string harp part is also available here.

Click on the MP3 below to hear the complete arrangement.

Price: $15.00

Attachment	Size
Variations on Greensleeves Harp and Orchestra.mp3	4.55 MB

Greensleeves Variations for Harp and MP3

janet — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 21:18:47 +0000

For Solo Harp and MP3 Accompaniment
English Traditional
Arranged and orchestrated by J. Lanier

Individual harp part - $3.00 (Click on the add to cart below)
MP3 Accompaniment - $2.00 (Sold separately - click here to purchase)

Would you like to practice with an orchestra accompanying you in your own home? This is your opportunity! Greensleeves Variations for Harp and Orchestra is being offered as a harp solo with an MP3 accompaniment. The original accompaniment (strings, piccolo, and tambourine) is now available as an MP3. Practice your part with the MP3 as many times as you want. The MP3 helps the harpist to stay in a steady tempo and is much more fun than practicing with a metronome!

A 22 string harp part is available here.
The printed parts and score are available here.

Click on the MP3 below to hear the full arrangement.

Price: $3.00

Attachment	Size
Variations on Greensleeves Harp and Orchestra.mp3	4.55 MB

To Dwell in the House of the Lord

janet — Wed, 23 Dec 2009 04:06:07 +0000

In 2007, St. Mary's Church experienced a fire that burned the entire sanctuary. More information about the tragic event can be found here. The few items that survived were the church bells and the Easter candle. It didn't take long for the dedicated church body to pull together and begin rebuilding.

For the dedication ceremony, St. Mary's Choir with music ministers Jim and Vanessa Rauscher commissioned me to compose a piece for the choir and orchestra with an option to have a piano accompanying version. The piece was based on Psalm 27:4-6 and Psalm 5:7.

A video of St. Mary's Choir, with Vanessa Rauscher, director, and Jim Rauscher, piano can be seen here

To listen to an audio file of St. Mary's Choir singing "To Dwell in the House of the Lord", please click here [attachment:1]

Price: $2.50

Video: To Dwell in the House of the Lord

janet — Wed, 23 Dec 2009 03:45:53 +0000

For the dedication of the new sanctuary, St. Mary's Choir in Amarillo, Texas commissioned me to write a piece for their choir and orchestra. "To Dwell in the House of the Lord" was premiered on September 11, 2009 . More information about this piece can be found here. The choir also requested that a piano accompanying version be created for the piece. Please enjoy the video of St. Mary's Choir singing the choir and piano version of "To Dwell in the House of the Lord" recorded on November 1, 2009.

In the Bleak Midwinter for Oboe and Piano (with opt. flute and clarinet parts)

janet — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 01:19:54 +0000

For Oboe and Piano
Setting by Gustav Holst
Arr. by Janet Lanier

Performance Time: approx. 3:12
Printed music $10.00 for Score and Oboe part
(click on the "add to cart" button below)

Also available for other instruments: Flute or Bb Clarinet
Click to purchase the score and alternate Flute part
Click to purchase the score alternate Bb Clarinet part

Click here [attachment:1] to listen to a Finale MP3 sound file sample.

Price: $10.00

Away in a Manger for Solo Harp

janet — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 19:40:32 +0000

For Lever or Pedal Harp
Traditional Christmas Carol
Arranged by Janet Lanier

No lever or pedal changes required
Individual copy $1.50

Price: $1.50

FREE DOWNLOAD Hark! The Herald Angels Sing for Solo Harp

janet — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 05:30:48 +0000

For Pedal or Lever Harp
by Felix Mendelssohn
Arr. by J. Lanier

For intermediate-advanced level
One pedal/lever change

For a FREE copy of this piece, click here [attachment:1]

Price: $0.00

Attachment	Size
Hark! The Herald Angels Sing	25.01 KB

Tomorrow Shall Be My Dancing Day - NOW for English horn and piano (with opt flute/oboe or clarinet parts)

janet — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 03:46:38 +0000

12th Century English Carol
Arranged by J. Lanier
For English horn and Piano (opt. parts for flute/oboe or clarinet)
Performance Time - 5:21

Price - $18.00 (click the "add to cart" button below)

By request, the popular Shepherd's Trio arrangement of Tomorrow Shall Be My Dancing Day is now available for solo instrument and piano. This light and fantasy-like arrangement can be played by solo English horn and Piano. Optional parts are also available for flute/oboe or clarinet in B-flat.

Trio version recorded by SHEPHERD'S TRIO on their SONG OF JOY and NIGHT OF WONDER CDs

Price: $18.00

Walking with My Friend for Solo Harp

janet — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 17:40:53 +0000

For Lever or Pedal Harp
By Janet Lanier

For intermediate level, no lever or pedal changes required in this piece.
Individual copy $3.00

This is the first piece I wrote after I moved to Carbondale, Colorado. I was so impressed with how dog-friendly this town was... so many dog parks and so many people who actually spend quality time with their precious pet. Gandhi once said, "The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated." If that's true, Carbondale, Colorado is a great town.

Please click the MP3 of the Finale sound file below to listen to Walking with My Friend.

Price: $3.00

Attachment	Size
Walking with My Friend.mp3	2.47 MB

The Alewoman for Solo Harp

janet — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 22:55:59 +0000

For Lever or Pedal Harp
By Chief Francis O'Neill
Arranged by Janet Lanier

No lever or pedal changes required in this piece.
Individual copy $1.50

Intermediate level arrangement of a haunting melody

Price: $2.00

Silent Night for Solo Harp

janet — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 22:52:33 +0000

For Lever or Pedal Harp
By Franz Gruber
Arranged by Janet Lanier

No lever or pedal changes required in this piece.
Individual copy $1.50

Part of a booklet "Christmas Carols for Lever or Pedal Harps" Book I (7 carols for $10)

Price: $1.50

Angels We Have Heard on High for Solo Harp

janet — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 22:50:16 +0000

For Lever or Pedal Harp
Traditional Carol
Arranged by Janet Lanier

No lever or pedal changes required in this piece.
Individual copy $1.50

Part of a booklet "Christmas Carols for Lever or Pedal Harps" Book I (7 carols for $10)

Price: $1.50

We Wish You a Merry Christmas for Solo Harp

janet — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 22:48:03 +0000

For Lever or Pedal Harp
Traditional Carol
Arranged by Janet Lanier

No lever or pedal changes required in this piece.
Individual copy $1.50

Part of a booklet "Christmas Carols for Lever or Pedal Harps" Book I (7 carols for $10)

Price: $1.50

Bring a Torch, Jeannette, Isabella for Solo Harp

janet — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 22:41:11 +0000

For Lever or Pedal Harp
Traditional Christmas Carol
Arranged by Janet Lanier

No lever or pedal changes required in this piece.
Individual copy $1.50

Part of a booklet "Christmas Carols for Lever or Pedal Harps" Book I (7 carols for $10)

Price: $1.50

Deck the Halls for Solo Harp

janet — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 22:16:18 +0000

For Lever or Pedal Harp
Old Welsh Melody
Arranged by Janet Lanier

No lever or pedal changes required in this piece.
Individual copy $1.50

Part of a booklet "Christmas Carols for Lever or Pedal Harps" Book I (7 carols for $10)

Price: $1.50

Christmas Carols for Solo Harp Book I

janet — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 04:09:18 +0000

For Lever or Pedal Harp (Intermediate level)
Arranged by Janet Lanier
Price: $10 Click on "add to cart" below (Individual carols may be purchased separately)

No lever or pedal changes in this book
Keys: C Major, G Major
Special techniques: harmonics, downward rolls
Each song is 1 to 2 pages long with repeats, DS, or DC

Click on the song title for a short preview of the music.

Seven Arrangements: 1. Deck the Halls, 2. Bring a Torch, Jeannette, Isabella, 3. We Wish You a Merry Christmas, 4. The First Nowell, 5. Lo, How a Rose E'er Blooming, 6. Angels We Have Heard on High, 7. Silent Night

Price: $10.00

Video: Art is Everywhere in the Garden

janet — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 16:08:11 +0000

This is just a fun afternoon project to hold on to memories of my summer garden. We've had an unusual supply of rain (thank you Lord!) in Amarillo this August. The video demonstrates that you can see art everywhere in the garden.The photos were taken with a Canon Digital Rebel EOS camera and then put into GIMP to create artistic renditions of the photo. The background music is a composition of mine called "I See the Smile in Your Eyes" and I'm playing it on my Lorraine 29 string lever harp. Hope you enjoy!

First Nowell for Solo Harp

janet — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 23:30:38 +0000

For Lever or Pedal Harp
Traditional Christmas Carol
Arranged by Janet Lanier

Please click on the MP3 sound file below for a sample.

No lever or pedal changes required in this piece.
Individual copy $1.50

Price: $1.50

Attachment	Size
First Nowell.MP3	2.19 MB

Jingle Bells! for Solo Harp

janet — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 23:15:28 +0000

For Lever or Pedal Harp
Traditional Christmas Carol
Arranged by Janet Lanier

Please click on the MP3 sound file below for a sample.

No lever or pedal changes required in this piece.
Individual copy $1.50

Price: $1.50

Attachment	Size
Jingle Bells.MP3	2.32 MB

Lo How a Rose E'er Blooming for Solo Harp

janet — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 23:07:58 +0000

For Lever or Pedal Harp
Traditional Christmas Carol
Arranged by Janet Lanier

No lever or pedal changes required in this piece.
Individual copy $1.50

Part of a booklet "Christmas Carols for Lever or Pedal Harps" Book I (7 carols for $10)

Price: $1.50

Blest Be the Tie That Binds for Solo Harp

janet — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 01:56:46 +0000

For Lever or Pedal Harp
Johann Georg Nageli (1773-1836)
Arranged by Janet Lanier
(Please click on the MP3 sound file below for a sample.)

No lever or pedal changes required in this piece
Individual copy $1.50

Price: $1.50

Attachment	Size
Blest Be the Tie that Binds.MP3	1.35 MB

Four Winds of Heaven for Oboe and Piano

janet — Sun, 09 Aug 2009 22:03:21 +0000

The Four Winds of Heaven for Oboe and Piano
Original Commissioned Work composed by Janet Lanier
Copyright 2009
Published by TrevCo Music.

Price for Score and Oboe Part (with fingering for harmonics) $20.00 (Click on the "add to cart" button below)

The Four Winds of Heaven is a commissioned oboe and piano work based on the seventh chapter of the book of Daniel. The piece was commissioned by Eric Rath for his father's birthday. Eric's father is woodwind specialist Richard Rath with Oral Roberts University and principal oboist of the Bartlesville Symphony Orchestra.

The work begins with the passage from Daniel 7:2-3: Daniel said: "In my vision at night I looked, and there before me were the four winds of heaven churning up the great sea. Four great beasts, each different from the others, came up out of the sea."

The 5 1/2 minute work describes the churning of the sea, the vision of the beasts and the Ancient of Days taking his seat on the throne. A special effect of oboe harmonic 'A' fingerings alternating with normal 'A" fingerings are used in the middle section.

Please click the MP3 below to listen to the Finale sound file of The Four Winds of Heaven.

Price: $20.00

Attachment	Size
Four Winds of Heaven.MP3	2.46 MB

King of the Fairies for Solo Harp

janet — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 03:36:30 +0000

For Lever or Pedal Harp
Irish Melody
Arranged by Janet Lanier

No lever or pedal changes required in this piece
Individual copy $1.50

Price: $1.50

Beautiful Dreamer for Solo Harp

janet — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 02:45:15 +0000

For Lever or Pedal Harp
Music by Stephen Foster
Arranged by Janet Lanier

No lever or pedal changes required in this piece
Individual copy $1.50

Price: $1.50

Aura Lee (or Love Me Tender) for Solo Harp

janet — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 02:22:23 +0000

For Lever or Pedal Harp
Music by George R. Poulton (American Civil War Song)
Arranged by Janet Lanier

One lever change required
Individual copy $1.50

Price: $1.50

Do Not Stand at My Grave and Weep for SATB Chorus and Piano

janet — Mon, 25 May 2009 15:13:22 +0000

For SATB Chorus and Piano
Text by Mary Frye, Music by Janet Lanier
Performance time - 4:45
Price: $2.50 per vocal/piano copy

Originally commissioned for TTBB chorus by the Amarillo High School Bel Canto Chorale Men directed by Susan Hinrichs for the 2008 Honor Choir Performance at the Texas Music Educator's Association Convention (TMEA) in San Antonio, TX. It was composed in honor of those who gave their lives for our freedom and in memory of S/Sgt Andrew Caine Perkins, AHS Class of 1998, KIA March 5, 2007, Samarra, Iraq. A video of the Amarillo High School Bel Canto Chorale Men singing the original TTBB version can be found here. At the request of the Augusta Choral Society, it was revoiced to SATB in 2009.

The text is freely based on a poem by Mary Frye, a Baltimore homemaker, who wrote this, her first poem, in 1932 to console her friend Margaret who was grieving the death of her mother. Margaret cried that she was not able to visit her mother's grave to say goodbye because she died in Germany during Hitler's powerful reign. The poem came to Mary while she was checking off a list of groceries so she gave it to Margaret written on a torn grocery sack.

DO NOT STAND AT MY GRAVE AND WEEP 
Do not stand at my grave and weep
I am not there.  I do not sleep.
I am a thousand winds that blow.
I am the diamond glints of snow.
I am the gentle autumn rain.
When you awaken in the morning's hush
I am the swift uplifting rush
Of quiet birds in circled flight.
I am the soft stars that shine at night.
Do not stand at my grave and cry;
I am not there.  I did not die.

(Please note that we use the honor system here. You may purchase one copy of the full score for perusal purposes or you may select the number of copies according to your ensemble needs. (See "add to cart" button below.) If you wish to purchase numerous copies and have them printed for you, please write to me through the comment portion of the Check Out process or through my Contact Page so that I can tell you the cost of shipping and handling.)

Price: $2.50

Just As I Am for Solo Harp

janet — Thu, 14 May 2009 02:44:24 +0000

For Lever or Pedal Harp
By William Batchelder Bradbury (1849)
Arranged by Janet Lanier

No lever or pedal changes required in this piece.
Individual copy $1.50

Price: $1.50

Brian Boru's March for Solo Harp

janet — Thu, 07 May 2009 21:56:23 +0000

For Lever or Pedal Harp
Arranged by Janet Lanier

No lever or pedal changes required in this piece.
Individual copy $1.50

Price: $1.50

All Creatures of Our God and King for Solo Harp

janet — Thu, 07 May 2009 21:35:45 +0000

For Lever or Pedal Harp
Arranged by Janet Lanier

No lever or pedal changes required in this piece.
Individual copy $1.50

Price: $1.50

O Worship the King for English horn, Horn, and Harpsichord

janet — Thu, 07 May 2009 20:16:16 +0000

For English horn, French horn, and Piano
By J. Michael Haydn, Arranged by Janet Lanier
Performance Time - 3:40
Printed music $15 for full score with English horn and French horn parts

Recorded by SHEPHERD'S TRIO on SONG OF JOY CD

Contact me if you are interested in having this arrangement with alternate instrumentation.

Click here to listen to a sample MP3: [attachment:1]

Price: $15.00

Video: Sweet By and By with Rolando Salazar and Shepherd's Trio

janet — Fri, 01 May 2009 01:47:42 +0000

Shepherd's Trio provided a free concert for the Polk St. United Methodist Church Concert Series on May 8, 2008. Please enjoy the video from that concert featuring Rolando Salazar, tenor and Shepherd's Trio's Janet Lanier, English horn, David Lanier, French horn, and Jim Rauscher, piano performing "Sweet By and By."

Video: Mark Hayes' Lenten Carol with PSUMC Choir

janet — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 04:52:04 +0000

Here is a video of the "Lenten Carol" by Mark Hayes. It is originally for oboe obbligato but I performed it on the English horn with the Polk St. United Methodist Church Choir. It works well for either instrument.

God Bless America

janet — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 04:32:30 +0000

For Soprano Solo, Chorus (SSAATB), and Concert Band (or Orchestra)

By Irving Berlin, Arranged by Janet Lanier
Commissioned by Amarillo College for their 2005 graduation ceremonies

Band Instrumentation:
Picc, Fl 1 & 2, Ob 1 & 2, Clar 1 & 2, Bass Clar
Alto Sax 1 & 2, Ten Sax, Bari Sax
Tpt 1 & 2, Hrn 1 & 2, Tbn 1 & 2, Bass Tbn, Euph, Tuba
Timp, Perc 1, 2, 3

Orchestration Instrumentation:
Fl 1 & 2 (doubles Picc), Ob 1 & 2, Clar 1 &2, Bsn 1 & 2
Tpt 1, 2, 3, Hrns 1,2,3,4, Tbone 1 & 2, Bass Trombone, Tuba
Timpani, Perc 1 & 2, Harp
Vln 1, Vln 2, Vla, Cello, Bass

Read more about the PREMIERE of this arrangement.
Click here for a video of the orchestral version: Video

Joyful Harp Series Book I: Original Compositions & Arrangements

janet — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 22:09:31 +0000

The Joyful Harp Series Solos for the Adult Beginner Book I
For Lever or Pedal Harp Original compositions and arrangements
By Janet Lanier

Each song is one page long and positioned on the right side of the booklet to help the beginner. No lever changes during the song.

Inspiring quotes and poems included.

Price $15 (Individual songs may be purchased separately.)

Original songs: Summer Lullaby (see the free download of this song), Flying Away, A Garden Stroll, I See the Smile in Your Eyes, Distant Lands
Arrangements: Old Rugged Cross, Amazing Grace, Happy Birthday

You may also want to look at the Joyful Harp Series Book II: Loved Hymn Arr.

Price: $15.00

Joyful Harp Series Book II: Loved Hymn Arrangements

janet — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 21:23:34 +0000

The Joyful Harp Series Solos for the Adult Beginner Book II
For Lever or Pedal Harp Loved Hymn Arrangements
Arranged by Janet Lanier

Each song is one page long and positioned on the right side of the booklet to help the beginner.
No lever changes during the song.
Lyrics included.

Price $8 (Individual hymns may be purchased separately.)

Arrangements: Come Thou Fount, Blessed Assurance, O Worship the King, Fairest Lord Jesus(or Beautiful Savior), Joyful Joyful, Be Thou My Vision

You may also want to look at the Joyful Harp Series Book I, Original Compositions and Arr.

Price: $8.00

Free Music Downloads

janet — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 18:29:16 +0000

Here are the links of some free music PDFs I've written or arranged.

Summer Lullaby for Solo Harp and now a DUET!

God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen for Harp

Lament for Kilcash for Harp

Hark! The Herald Angels Sing! for Harp

ENJOY!

Lament for Kilcash for Solo Harp (Free Download)

janet — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 18:09:27 +0000

For Lever or Pedal Harp
Irish Melody, Arr. by Janet Lanier
No lever or pedal changes required in this piece.

This mournful solo is one of my favorite pieces to play on the lever harp.

For a FREE copy of this piece, click here Lament for Kilcash PDF

Price: $0.00

Attachment	Size
Lament for Kilcash.pdf	30.44 KB

Favorite Links

janet — Tue, 10 Feb 2009 01:16:12 +0000

Here are a few of my favorite links. When you visit, let them
know you found them through this site.

Trevco Music (my publisher and a great place to get double reed music)
Amarillo Symphony
Chamber Music Amarillo
CD Baby (sells Shepherd's Trio CDs)
David's Blog (my dear husband's blog)
Horn and Harp (harpist Barb Fackler's site)
Music for Harp (harpist RoJean Loucks' site)
Thormahlen Harps (harpist Sharon Thormahlen's site)
Oboeinsight (oboist Patty Mitchell's blog)
IDRS Forum (International Double Reed Forum)
Karen in Brazil (David's sister)
Shepherd's Trio English horn, French horn, Piano trio
The Grand Finale Blog (blog on Finale tips)
Trilogy Celtic Trio (nice trio with voice, violin, harp)
Madison Folk Harp Society
Texas Winds (great music program for nursing homes, etc)
Behemoth (Christian site sells Shepherd's Trio CDs)
Joseph Tomasso (woodwind specialist)
Virtual Harp Society (another wonderful harpist community)
Finale Music Blog (offers tips for Finale users)

Update on St. Mary's Commission

janet — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 23:27:00 +0000

The choral parts are done for St. Mary's Choir and they have been rehearsing their parts every week. I've heard the choir likes the piece which is great news. I've been working on the orchestration now and it is coming along quite nicely.

St. Mary's Church rebuilding is coming along quite nicely too. Here is an article from the Globe News about the progress. The orginal article can be found here.

Wild Mountain Thyme for Solo Harp

janet — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 23:05:39 +0000

For Lever or Pedal Harp
Arranged by Janet Lanier
Individual copy $1.50

Price: $1.50

We Gather Together for Solo Harp

janet — Sat, 24 Jan 2009 23:34:29 +0000

For Lever or Pedal Harp
Arranged by Janet Lanier
No lever or pedal changes required in this piece.

Individual copy $1.50

Price: $1.50

Processional for Flute and Harp

janet — Sat, 24 Jan 2009 23:23:28 +0000

For Flute and Harp (Pedal or Lever)

By Janet Lanier
No lever or pedal changes required in this piece.

Cost $20.00 (includes score and separate flute and harp parts)

This is the same 'Processional' that was written for English horn, French horn, and Piano but a Minneapolis harpist contacted me and requested that I arrange it for flute and harp.

She said in her message, "This was a great day when I found your beautiful composition 'Processional'. Doing many weddings on the harp, this song would be a new melody to suggest to brides."

Her idea was very appreciated. The piano part transcribed beautifully to the harp with only a few adjustments to fit the harpist hands better. There are no pedal changes in this piece and the individual harp part offered in addition to the full score is a great option for harpists who want to reduce the number of page turns. The two wind parts transcribed to the individual flute part with only a couple of phrases given to the harp.

Price: $20.00

God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen for Solo Harp (Free Download)

janet — Sun, 07 Dec 2008 17:23:40 +0000

For Lever or Pedal Harp By Janet Lanier
No lever or pedal changes required in this piece.

For a FREE copy of this piece, click here God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen PDF

Price: $0.00

Attachment	Size
God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen for harp.pdf	40.08 KB

Sweet By and By for Tenor (or soprano) Voice, Eng hrn, Horn, Pno

janet — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 15:20:25 +0000

For Tenor Voice (or soprano), English horn, French horn, and Piano
Tune by Joseph P. Webster, words by Sanford F. Bennett
Arranged by Janet Lanier

Performance Time: approx. 4:30
Printed music: $15

Please watch the VIDEO of this arrangement with Rolando Salazar, tenor and Shepherd's Trio performing for the Polk St. United Methodist Church Concert Series.

Please contact me if you are interested in an alternate instrumentation for this arrangement.

Price: $15.00

Globe News Article August 24, 2008

janet — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 01:13:16 +0000

The Globe News featured four Amarillo composers (including moi) in their Sunday, August 24, 2008 paper. Reporter, Brad Newman wanted to show that in addition to the large number of talented musicians in the area, Amarillo had quite a few talented composers. Besides myself, Dr. Norman J. Nelson (my composition teacher in the 80s), Jim Gardner, and Dan Hall were featured. The article can be found here. Photos and sound files were included in the article. Photographer, Michael Lemmons took some photos of me playing the harp even though I explained I'm not an expert harpist. He wanted to demonstrate that I used the harp to work out the harp parts in my composition.

Video: God Bless America with PSUMC Choir and Orchestra

janet — Sun, 27 Jul 2008 03:24:03 +0000

Each year, Polk St. United Methodist Church (PSUMC) provides a patriotic concert at their Sunday service. Music Minister, Rolando Salazar was interested in my arrangement of "God Bless America" that Amarillo College commissioned. The original arrangement was for soprano soloist, chorus, and concert band. Rolando asked me to transcribe it for orchestra which was something I had on my list to do some day. I'm very pleased with the transcription from band to orchestra. Here is a video of that orchestral premiere with soprano soloist, Lyndi Fisher. Other PSUMC videos from their services can be found here.

Amarillo Civic Chorus Men Records "Do Not Stand at My Grave and Weep"

janet — Sun, 27 Jul 2008 02:41:54 +0000

The Amarillo Civic Chorus offered to record the new commissioned work "Do Not Stand at My Grave and Weep" which was commissioned by the Amarillo High School Bel Canto Chorale Men for the 2008 TMEA Convention. This was a great opportunity to have my piece performed by two different age groups. Both groups performed the piece beautifully and I have to say it's impossible to pick which recording I like better because there are unique qualities in both groups that give the piece it's life. For anyone studying the difference between high school age males and older male voices, these recordings will tell you much.

This is the recording of the Amarillo Civic Chorus Men in the Globe News Performing Arts Center:

[attachment:1]

This is the live recording of the AHS Bel Canto Chorale Men from the 2008 TMEA Convention in San Antonio, TX:

[attachment:2]

Attachment	Size
Do Not Stand at My Grave and Weep Civic Chorus.mp3	5.47 MB
Do Not Stand at My Grave and Weep TMEA.mp3	5.47 MB

Amarillo Civic Chorus Records "Be Thou My Vision"

janet — Sun, 27 Jul 2008 02:06:09 +0000

St. Luke Presbyterian Church asked me to write something special for the choir to sing at the Amarillo Choir Festival in November 2007. Music Minister, Bob Hansen specifically requested that a solo for Steve Weber who has a beautiful bass/baritone voice be included and Bob also requested an instrumental obbligato part be included with the choir. I knew that one of Steve Weber's favorite hymns was "Be Thou My Vision" so the choice of hymn was very easy. The St. Luke Choir performed the arrangement of "Be Thou My Vision" which was arranged for Bass/Baritone Solo, Instrumental Obbligato (which I played on the English horn), and SATB choir. They did a great job and the festival audience really enjoyed hearing the premiere. The Amarillo Civic Chorus was planning a recording session to record a Christmas song for the Eveline Rivers Project Christmas CD 2008. They offered to record two of my pieces during the same session. This was a terrific opportunity for me as a composer to have such a professional group record for me. I will always be grateful to Steve Weber and the Amarillo Civic Chorus for their tremendous support and to Carlos Casso of Audio Refinery for recording!

Please enjoy the recording of: [attachment:1]

Attachment	Size
Be Thou My Vision for Baritone Solo, EH, and Choir	5.54 MB

Commissions and Premieres

janet — Sun, 27 Jul 2008 01:31:28 +0000

Welcome to the Commissions and Premieres Page! It's exciting for all those involved with a premiere: the composer, the performers, the audience, and the media. Of course, the composer is thrilled for having a work performed and the performer feels the honor of being the first to perform a work that could stay in the literature for centuries (or we hope!) The audience experiences the joy of knowing they heard the work first and the media always enjoys bringing news of a premiere to the world. Thank you for browsing through the links under "Commissions and Premieres" and for reading about and listening to each new work.

Volunteer Entertainer 2007

janet — Tue, 13 May 2008 03:47:58 +0000

I play the harp for the local retirement and nursing homes. Each year the Bivins Foundation provides a banquet to thank the volunteers. This year I received the "Volunteer Entertainer Award for 2007" from the Bivins Foundation.

The celtic harp has been a favorite of the residents at Bivins Memorial, Childers Place, and Bivins Village. It's an instrument that is not too loud and can be heard even by those residents that have hearing impairments. I usually select familiar songs so that my listeners can reminisce or sing along if they like. I often see a lot of smiles from both residents and staff members when I visit with the harp.

Shepherd's Trio Concert at Polk Street United Methodist Church

janet — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 15:10:22 +0000

Polk Street United Methodist Church (PSUMC) has brought their "concert series" back featuring music artists from the area. Shepherd's Trio is so excited that PSUMC has invited us to perform.

A special treat for this concert is our guest artist, Rolando Salazar. Rolando is the Music Minister for PSUMC and has so many musical talents. Rolando will be singing an arrangement specially written for him and Shepherd's Trio of one of his favorite hymns "Sweet By and By". Other selections on the program will be some of our best pieces from our CD, "Song of Joy" and a few surprise selections of popular music. Please join us for this Sunday afternoon concert. We promise you'll be inspired with our music and have a lot of fun! Hope to see you there!

Ave Maria for Eng hrn, Hrn, Pno

janet — Sun, 06 Apr 2008 18:43:44 +0000

For English horn, French horn, and Piano
By Franz Schubert, Arranged by Janet Lanier
Performance Time - 6:10
Printed Music - $15.00 for Score and English horn and French horn parts
(To purchase, please click on the "Add to cart" button below)

Please inquire through the Contact Page about alternative instrumentation for this arrangement.

Click here to listen to a Finale MP3 sound sample: [attachment:1]

Price: $15.00

O the Deep, Deep Love of Jesus for Instrumental Duet

janet — Sun, 06 Apr 2008 17:42:35 +0000

Two-part invention based on the hymn
For two same-pitched instruments
Performance Time: 1:17
Printed music $8.00

Please inquire through my "Contacts Page" for alternate instrumentation for this arrangement.

Click here to listen to a Finale MP3 sound file sample: [attachment:1]

Price: $8.00

We Bless the Name of Christ the Lord for Oboe and Piano

janet — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 02:33:57 +0000

For Oboe (or Flute) and Piano
Performance Time: 4:28
Printed music $15.00 for Score and Oboe (or Fl.) part (click on the "add to cart" button below)
Published by TrevCo Music.

Also available for other instruments: English horn or Bb Clarinet
Click to purchase the score and alternate English horn part ($15.00)
Click to purchase the score alternate Bb Clarinet part ($15.00)

Click here to listen to a Finale MP3 sound file sample:
[attachment:1]

Price: $15.00

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We_Bless_the_Name_of_Christ_page_1.jpg	62.34 KB

Video: Do Not Stand at My Grave and Weep with AHS Bel Canto Chorale Men at FBC

janet — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 04:30:37 +0000

Before traveling to San Antonio to perform for the TMEA Convention, Amarillo High School Bel Canto Chorale Men, under the direction of Susan Hinrichs, gave a preview of their concert including "Do Not Stand at My Grave and Weep." Here now is a gorgeous and emotional video of their performance. Thank you Tim Winn for producing the video from the February 10, 2008 Concert at the First Baptist Church of Amarillo. Great work everyone!

Do Not Stand at My Grave and Weep from David Lanier on Vimeo.

Poem "Song of the Mystic" by Rev. Abram J. Ryan

janet — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 05:07:02 +0000

The is the original poem "Song of the Mystic" by Rev. Abram J. Ryan that was used for Valley of Silence:

Song of the Mystic
I walk down the Valley of Silence-
Down the dim, voiceless valley - alone!
And I hear not the fall of a footstep
Around me, save God's and my own;
And the hush of my heart is as holy
As hovers where angels have flown!

Long ago was I weary of voices
Whose music my heart could not win;
Long ago was I weary of noises
That fretted my soul with their din;
Long ago was I weary of places
Where I met but the human- and sin.

I walked in the world with the worldly;
I craved what the world never gave;
And I said: "In the world each Ideal,
That shines like a star on life's wave,
Is wrecked on the shores of the Real,
And sleeps like a dream in a grave."

And still did I pine for the Perfect,
And still found the False with the True;
I sought 'mid the Human for Heaven,
But caught a mere glimpse of its Blue:
And I wept when the clouds of the Mortal
Veiled even that glimpse from my view.

And I toiled on, heart-tired of the Human,
And I moaned 'mid the mazes of men,
Till I knelt, long ago, at an altar
And I heard a voice call me. Since then
I walk down the Valley of Silence
That lies far beyond mortal ken.

Do you ask what I found in the Valley?
'Tis my Trysting Place with the Divine.
And I fell at the feet of the Holy,
And above me a voice said: "Be Mine."

And there arose from the depths of my spirit
An echo- "My heart shall be Thine."
Do you ask how I live in the Valley?
I weep- and I dream- and I pray.
But my tears are as sweet as the dew-drops
That fall on the roses in May;
And my prayer, like a perfume from censers,
Ascendeth to God night and day.

In the hush of the Valley of Silence
I dream all the songs that I sing;
And the music floats down the dim Valley,
Till each finds a word for a wing,
That to hearts, like the dove of the Deluge,
A message of Peace they may bring.

But far on the deep there are billows
That never shall break on the beach;
And I have heard songs in the Silence
That never shall float into speech;
And I have had dreams in the Valley
Too lofty for language to reach.

And I have seen Thoughts in the Valley-
Ah me! How my spirit was stirred!
And they wear holy veils on their faces,
Their footsteps can scarcely be heard;
They pass through the Valley like Virgins,
Too pure for the touch of a word!

Do you ask me the place of the Valley,
Ye hearts that are harrowed by Care?
It lieth afar between mountains,
And God and His angels are there:
And one is the dark mount of Sorrow,
and one the bright mountain of Prayer.

Contact Information

janet — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 23:17:43 +0000

Amarillo Little Theatre

janet — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 22:51:34 +0000

I love the theater and Amarillo Little Theatre (ALT) is a great treat for Amarillo. They have a huge pool of talented actors, singers, and dancers and they all work very hard. Allen Shankles, Managing Director of ALT has done a superb job of building up the entire program. The main theater is very intimate and full of color. There is also a separate building called the Adventure Space where plays are performed. I recall attending a performance there called "Metamorphoses" where a huge swimming pool is set in the middle and the actors get in an out of the pool as part of the stage direction. It was a unique performance.

I have played a number of musicals with Amarillo Little Theatre: A Christmas Carol, Oklahoma, Aida, Phantom of the Opera, Fiddler on the Roof, The Producers and more. It's as much fun in the pit as it is in the audience!

Lone Star Ballet

janet — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 22:25:32 +0000

We are very proud of Lone Star Ballet in Amarillo. Each year Lone Star and the ASO team up to bring the Nutcracker to Amarillo. It is a beautiful ballet that for many years had great costumes, sets, etc but recently, they have upgraded with all new sets, costumes, and even a little variation on the story.

I have played the English horn part to the Nutcracker for 25 years. Recently, I took a couple seasons off to play for the Amarillo Little Theatre's "A Christmas Carol" but I plan to get back into the ballet pit again for the 2008 season. It is a tradition of mine to bring homemade fudge to the orchestra pit for the dress rehearsals every year. It's funny to find out that when I was gone for the two seasons, the thing people noticed the most was that my fudge was not available. Ha!

Amarillo Opera

janet — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 22:12:50 +0000

I've been playing oboe and English horn for the Amarillo Opera for many years. This year's opera is quite adventurous for all of us involved. We are performing Carlisle Floyd's Cold Sassy Tree with Metropolitan Opera Star and Amarillo's own Emily Pulley singing the leading role. The 2nd oboe/English horn book is challenging in rhythms and is especially challenging with very fast changes between the two instruments but it's worth the work because there are some gorgeous English horn parts in the score.

I've read the book Cold Sassy Tree by Olive Ann Burns. At first I couldn't imagine how the story could become an opera but I'm looking forward to seeing how Floyd sets it to music.

Chamber Music Amarillo

janet — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 21:51:38 +0000

Chamber Music Amarillo, lead by Executive Director David Palmer, presents several concerts in Amarillo throughout the year. This is a true labor of love of intimate chamber music. David Palmer and his Board of Directors put so much time, money, and effort into supporting concerts of the highest caliber. Please check the CMA website for the season's listings. CMA now has a home base on 6th Street called the Fibonacci Building. It's location is right in the heart of the historic Route 66 area of Amarillo.

I have been a member of CMA since it began bringing in woodwind players. We have a woodwind quintet called Westwind and often Shepherd's Trio is a part of the program. A few of the exciting pieces I have contributed to are the Bach Concerto for Oboe, Violin, and Strings (pictured below), the Barber Violin Concerto (with Annie Chalex-Boyle playing the violin solo), Bach B-minor Mass, and the Brandenburg Concerto No 1.

Daina Redath-Plostnieks (violin), Janet Lanier (oboe), and the CMA Virtuosi
performing the Bach Concerto for Oboe, Violin, and Strings

Recently, CMA received a grant for bringing chamber groups to nursing and retirement homes. This great program called Elder Care provides hour long concerts to residents. Shepherd's Trio has been providing some of these concerts and I've had the opportunity to provide a little harp music for them too. The residents are so excited about all of the groups that visit them from CMA.

Be Thou My Vision for Solo Harp

janet — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 21:18:20 +0000

For Lever or Pedal Harp
Ancient Irish Melody, arranged by Janet Lanier
No lever or pedal changes required in this piece.
Individual copy $1.50

Part of a booklet "Lever Harp Solos for the Adult Beginner, Book II"

Price: $1.50

Fairest Lord Jesus (Beautiful Savior) for Solo Harp

janet — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 21:14:49 +0000

For Lever or Pedal Harp
German Crusader's Hymn to the Holy Land
Arranged by Janet Lanier
No lever or pedal changes required in this piece.
Individual copy $1.50

Part of a booklet "Lever Harp Solos for the Adult Beginner, Book II"

Price: $1.50

O Worship the King for Solo Harp

janet — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 21:13:01 +0000

For Lever or Pedal Harp
By Robert Grant, arranged by Janet Lanier
No lever or pedal changes required in this piece.
Individual copy $1.50

Part of a booklet "Lever Harp Solos for the Adult Beginner, Book II"

Price: $1.50

Blessed Assurance for Solo Harp

janet — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 21:10:59 +0000

For Lever or Pedal Harp
By Fanny Crosby, arranged by Janet Lanier
No lever or pedal changes required in this piece.
Individual copy $1.50

Part of a booklet "Lever Harp Solos for the Adult Beginner, Book II"

Price: $1.50

Come Thou Fount for Solo Harp

janet — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 21:09:03 +0000

For Lever or Pedal Harp
Arranged by Janet Lanier
No lever or pedal changes required in this piece.
Individual copy $1.50

Part of a booklet "Lever Harp Solos for the Adult Beginner, Book II"

Price: $1.50

Amazing Grace for Solo Harp

janet — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 21:06:33 +0000

For Lever or Pedal Harp
By John Newton
Arranged by Janet Lanier
No lever or pedal changes required in this piece.
Individual copy $1.50
Part of a booklet "Lever Harp Solos for the Adult Beginner, Book I"

Price: $1.50

Old Rugged Cross for Solo Harp

janet — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 20:49:58 +0000

For Lever or Pedal Harp
Arranged by Janet Lanier
No lever or pedal changes required in this piece.
Individual copy $1.50
Part of a booklet "Lever Harp Solos for the Adult Beginner, Book I"

Price: $1.50

Distant Lands for Solo Harp

janet — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 20:42:11 +0000

For Lever or Pedal Harp
By Janet Lanier
No lever or pedal changes required in this piece. All levers are preset from the beginning.
Individual copy $3
Part of a booklet "Lever Harp Solos for the Adult Beginner, Book I"

Price: $3.00

I See the Smile in Your Eyes for Solo Harp

janet — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 20:39:52 +0000

For Lever or Pedal Harp
By Janet Lanier
No lever or pedal changes required in this piece.

Please click on the MP3 sound file below for a sample or watch a video "Art is Everywhere in the Garden" that uses this song for background music.

Individual copy $3
Part of a booklet "Lever Harp Solos for the Adult Beginner, Book I"

Price: $3.00

Attachment	Size
I See the Smile in Your Eyes.MP3	1.71 MB

Flying Away for Solo Harp

janet — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 20:33:37 +0000

For Lever or Pedal Harp
By Janet Lanier
No lever or pedal changes required in this piece.
Individual copy $3

Please click on the MP3 sound file below for a sample.

Part of a booklet "Lever Harp Solos for the Adult Beginner, Book I"

Price: $3.00

Attachment	Size
Flying Away.MP3	1.07 MB

Summer Lullaby for Solo Harp (Free) and Now a DUET!

janet — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 20:09:29 +0000

For Lever or Pedal Harp By Janet Lanier

Part of a booklet "Lever Harp Solos for the Adult Beginner, Book I"
No lever or pedal changes required in this piece.

I am pleased to announce that Summer Lullaby is now being offered as a harp duet thanks to harpist, Barbara Ann Fackler of hornandharp.com, who wrote a second harp part for it! Barb has written an easy second part with no pedal changes that can be played on 22-stringed harps (C-c) or more. Go to her website HERE in the harp ensemble section, download the second harp part and grab a friend! If you would like the full score for this delightful duet or a 22-string version of the Solo Harp/Harp 1 part, please contact me through my contact page.

For a FREE copy of this piece, click here Summer Lullaby Solo Harp or Harp 1 for Duet Version PDF

Click here to listen to a sample MP3: [attachment:1]
Click here to listen to a sample midi file: [attachment:2]

Price: $0.00

Opera Formatting for Bill Evans: An American Story

janet — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 17:41:30 +0000

Many Finale versions ago, Bill Evans, retired piano professor at WTAMU wrote an opera called "An American Story". L. Vartebedian wrote the lyrics to this opera about a mining town in Colorado. Bill Evans was using Finale to write the music but needed someone to save him time formatting and printing parts. This was a good experience for me to get use to larger scores on Finale and to become more familiar with inserting lyrics. The orchestra instrumentation for the opera is rather small: Vln 1 & 2, Clarinet, Cello, Bass, Piano, and Percussion. Here is a sample of the score for the Overture to "An American Story" by L. Vartebedian and Bill Evans.

Arranging for the Pop World

janet — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 01:10:49 +0000

I mainly stay in my comfort zone writing in the classical and church styles but sometimes I come across opportunities that make writing music challenging in a different way. On a few occasions, I have been asked by performers in the world of popular music to assist them by writing instrumental accompaniments to their music.

I've had the opportunity to do some accompanimental writing for pianist, Jim Wilson in California. Jim uses a flute and string quartet with a fabulous multimedia show. Jim has several albums out and has been listed high on the Billboard charts. Jim's official website can be found here.

I've also written a string quartet accompaniment for one of Andy Chase's song. Amarillo's Andy Chase is a terrific singer/guitarist and writes some great songs. He's been popular in Amarillo for many years. I enjoyed working with Andy because he's a sweet and humble musician. On the left is a nice photo of Andy from the Amarillo Globe News with an interesting article that can be found here.

St. Mary's Church

janet — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 00:13:42 +0000

For many years, my husband, David and I have played Christmas Eve services for St. Mary's Church in Amarillo, TX. We are not Catholic but we find the service to be very beautiful and so meaningful. I don't know if this is true of all Catholic churches but St. Mary's Church does not use Christmas carols for their services during the month of December until Christmas Eve so when the midnight mass starts, it is a real treat to hear the music. I find it amazing too that so many people attend the midnight mass on Christmas Eve.

These services helped to create Shepherd's Trio because we started trying out some of the trio arrangements I had written since 1995 for English horn, French horn, and Piano. We enjoyed working together on the arrangements so much and we had so many pieces, we all agreed to try to make a CD. Two CDs later, we're still playing Christmas Eve services for St. Mary's and feeling the joy of the season.

Jim and Vanessa Rauscher are the Music Ministers for St. Mary's Church. We have enjoyed their friendship and musicianship over the years and we have marveled at their two children John and Ann as they grew up before our eyes from being young violinists in the orchestra to becoming high achieving musicians in college. John is now studying violin at Texas Tech University and Ann is studying voice at Amarillo College.

Copying for Scott Beckett

janet — Sun, 02 Mar 2008 20:44:21 +0000

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.

Amarillo College

janet — Sun, 02 Mar 2008 07:11:45 +0000

We are blessed to have two higher education institutions in the area, WTAMU and Amarillo College. Amarillo College may be a small community college but it's getting bigger and it has a lot to offer with it's varied curriculum and great faculty. I have been very honored to be writing music for the ensembles at Amarillo College. Please read about the commission to create a new arrangement of "God Bless America" and about the transcription work I did for trumpet instructor, Scott Beckett of Fantasie Brillante by Jean Baptiste Arban.

Arrangements

janet — Sat, 01 Mar 2008 23:37:44 +0000

Thanks for clicking on "arrangements". You will see an alphabetical listing of all my favorite arrangements on the left. If you mouse over any title, you will see the instrumentation. When you click on a title, you will see complete information including instrumentation, price, sample score, sound file, and more. Please check back often because I have many more from my collection to add to the site and I'm always writing something new.

The printed music for my arrangements may be purchased here at my website but many are also available through TrevCo Music in Florida. TrevCo Music specializes in music for double reeds.

If you have any questions about my arrangments or would like to inquire about different instrumentation, please use the "Contact" link on the right. Thank you for browsing!

Original Compositions

janet — Sat, 01 Mar 2008 21:13:13 +0000

Thanks for clicking on "original compositions". You will see an alphabetical listing of all my original compositions in the left navigation bar. If you mouse over any title, you will see the instrumentation. Many of these pieces have been commissioned by organizations from this area. When you click on a title, you will see complete information including instrumentation, price, sample score, sound file, and more.

The printed music for my compositions may be purchased here at this website but many are also available through TrevCo Music in Florida. TrevCo mainly sells double reed music so if you are a double reeder, this is the place to go.

If you are interested in commissioning me or would like more information about my commissions or original works, please use the "Contact" link on the right. Thank you for browsing!

A List of My Works

janet — Sat, 01 Mar 2008 20:58:39 +0000

Welcome to the "List of Works" page. On the left you will see the listing of my collection of original compositions and arrangements. If you mouse over each title, you will see the instrumentation for that piece. Please check back often to this area because I will be constantly adding new scores. There are many in my collection that I still need to list and I'm always writing something. If you would like more information about my music collection, please email me through the "Contact" link or through any comment area. If you see a piece you like but it's not written for your instrument, please let me know. There's a possibility I can create a transcription for you. Thanks for browsing!

Music Makes the Difference

janet — Fri, 29 Feb 2008 23:30:33 +0000

The Amarillo Symphony started a program in 1999 called Music Makes the Difference (MMD). This was a creative program that took small groups of ASO musicians into the elementary schools. Each ensemble would stay with the same school for the entire week where they would present a short concert to the entire school. The ensemble would then go into individual classrooms to play music and have the children draw pictures or do some creative writing in response to how they felt about the music they heard. This was a wonderful program that brought so much out of the children. When the children knew they were going to draw or write something in response to the music, it gave them more reason to listen more intently. We saw so many wonderful drawings, funny stories, and deeply emotional writings.

One of the ensembles I participated in was a trio for oboe, French horn, and piano. We played the Reinecke Trio. My husband David played horn and David Palmer from Chamber Music Amarillo played piano. It was great fun.

Occasionally, we would see a student writing about something quite troubling. After verifying with the student that it wasn't just some scene they saw in a movie, we would bring it to the teacher's attention at the end of the day. I recall one incident where a student was so moved by the exercise of writing to the music, he requested two sheets of paper to write on and then he proceeded to open up about a tragic death he had witnessed. Up until this point, he would never really reveal to anyone just how much this affected him. After the school counselor visited with the youth about his story, she said it was "like the flood-gates had opened up". The youth finally talked everything over with the counselor.

Music Makes the Difference was so rewarding in the elementary schools that we decided to try it out at an advertising agency. We played for the employees of the McCormick Co. and asked them to write or draw in response. It was a great stress reducer for the employees and gave them an opportunity to express themselves. The company was so impressed with the program, they made a large donation to the ASO.

In 2002, MMD won the Golden Touch Award which is given by the Amarillo Chamber of Commerce during the annual Golden Nail Awards Ceremony.

Portals for Solo Oboe (available soon)

janet — Fri, 29 Feb 2008 18:57:17 +0000

Portals for Solo Oboe is an unaccompanied work which uses multiphonics in a melodic way and harmonics for rhythmic interest. Thanks to Music Teachers Tools for creating an oboe font, I am now able to have this work printed using the Finale software and it will be available for purchase soon. Fingerings for harmonics and multiphonics are included within the composition. Here is a little preview of the work:

Background information about Portals for Solo Oboe:
In my graduate days, when I was studying composition with Dr. Norman J. Nelson at West Texas State University (now WTAMU), Dr. Nelson gave me the assignment to come up with unconventional ways to play the oboe. That was a fun assignment. I would demonstrate all kinds of crazy things like the usual crowing on the reed but I also buzzed into the opening of the oboe like a trumpet, put cigarette paper under the open keys to make a vibrating sound when I blew into the oboe, harmonics, etc. The most fascinating technique was multiphonics.
A multiphonic is a 20th Century technique where a monophonic instrument (like the oboe that can only play one note at a time) can produce multiple sounds by using special fingerings.

One summer I spent many hours looking up multiphonic fingerings from various sources and tried to develop some of my own. I wrote each fingering on an index card and documented various characteristics about it such as "need to blow harder or softer" or "has mostly high or low sounds." I then selected several of the multiphonic fingerings and tried to put them in a quasi-chromatic order. My goal was to eventually be able to play a "melody" using multiphonics. I must admit the hours I spent on this project almost made me go crazy.

The result of this work was an unaccompanied oboe solo called "Portals for Solo Oboe". It used various "unconventional" techniques for the oboe such as:

multiphonics
melody played normally followed by the same melody in multiphonics
multiphonic trills
spreading of normal notes to a multiphonic and back
alternating harmonic fingerings with normal fingerings
plus the "conventional" playing.

Dr. Nelson said it was the first time he had seen the use of multiphonics used melodically. This was in the early 80s and since then there has been a lot of instrumentalists experimenting with multiphonics. I shared my piece with other oboists back at the John Mack Oboe Camp and they seemed very intrigued with it. I heard that one of the oboists performed it in Canada and Boston.

Price: $0.00

A Garden Stroll for Solo Harp

janet — Fri, 29 Feb 2008 05:29:58 +0000

For Lever or Pedal Harp
By Janet Lanier
No lever or pedal changes required in this piece.
Individual copy $3
Part of a booklet "Lever Harp Solos for the Adult Beginner, Book I"

Watch the video "Amaryllis Awakening" with this solo as background music.

Price: $3.00

Video: Amaryllis Awakening with Harp Background

janet — Fri, 29 Feb 2008 04:26:12 +0000

My husband, David has been experimenting with video. When we received an amaryllis bulb for Christmas from my sister and her husband, we thought it would be a great idea to take photos of the blossoms as they were opening. We set up a tripod with our Digital Rebel camera and used some accompanying software to trigger the camera to take a picture every 60 seconds. This went on for five days! The result was worth it. After transferring the photos into Final Cut Pro, we had a poetic animated video of an amaryllis blossom opening as the shadows of the day danced through the windows. Of course, we had to add music so I recorded a short harp piece I wrote called "A Garden Stroll". The harp recording is my playing on a Lorraine 29 string floor harp. Please keep in mind that I had been playing the harp for two years at this point.

Please enjoy our video titled "Amaryllis Awakening"

Amaryllis Awakening from David Lanier on Vimeo.

Video: Silent Night with Shepherd's Trio

janet — Fri, 29 Feb 2008 01:31:39 +0000

Silent Night is one of the most loved carols of all time. At Christmas time, Shepherd's Trio performs their arrangement of Silent Night which coordinates with a video. My husband, David and I created the video. It is a series of stained glass windows that depict the life of Christ from his birth to the resurrection. There are anchor points throughout the video to allow the musicians to adjust and keep on track. Our Silent Night multimedia program has been popular with many of the churches and has been requested often. Both the arrangement and video are available for purchase here. The video can be purchased in different formats and then can be embedded into other programs such as Power Point.

Please enjoy the video with the Shepherd's Trio performing Silent Night:

Silent Night from David Lanier on Vimeo.

Finale Work

janet — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 23:34:54 +0000

In the late 80s, when I bought my first Macintosh computer to write music, it was so exciting. The first music writing software I tried was the Deluxe Music Construction Set. It wasn't fancy but it was all I could afford at the time ($100).

I later upgraded to Finale and I must admit that I wasn't much of a computer person at the time. It was around this time I met my husband, David. He was working in the Mac Lab at WT helping other students learn Finale so he really got me off to a good start writing music on the computer.

Many Finale versions later and many computers later, I'm still writing using Finale software in my studio (pictured right). This was the original computer desk I bought back in the 80s when I bought my first Macintosh. That Macintosh was later given to a friend and now I think it's an aquarium!! I still use the same desk but made some modifications on it. I installed a pullout shelf below the table top for the piano keyboard. I like having the piano in front of me while playing through the music. A couple of years ago I switched to a PC but I still have my G4 Mac and use it. The Gateway monitor is great for writing orchestral scores. When rotated from a landscape to a portrait position, I can see an entire page of an orchestral score without scrolling around which is great when editting or filling in parts. The landscape position is great for viewing large sections of music. I can clearly see about 12-16 bars of music at a time.

Writing music on the computer took a little time to transition from the days of writing by hand. It was difficult at first to compose with the right brain while remembering commands with the left. I would pencil out my composing ideas on paper and then put them in on the computer which was defeating the purpose somewhat. Over time, I eventually got very comfortable with using the computer and now I can compose directly to the computer.

I can't imagine trying to compose some of the pieces I've done without the use of a computer. I'm definitely not a Mozart or Beethoven type who can write whatever I hear in my head. I'm very fortunate to live in an age where I can use a computer to try out all the ideas I have. That "undo key" and copy and paste features are the greatest inventions, not to mention the transposition menus. After all the years that I was hand writing music with ink and vellum, you can imagine the joy I get from printing out my own music that looks like it came from a publisher.

The computer has also been helpful in my composing life when it comes to communication. A composer can easily collaborate via email with those who have commissioned them. When writing the commissioned work "Valley of Silence", I would often email Steve Weber at Amarillo College with ideas to discuss as I went through the process of writing. It began with emailing text ideas for lyrics and continued with sections of music. Eventually I would email a PDF of the music to Steve, who then would print it out and distribute it to the chorus for rehearsal. As we made revisions, I would email the modified pages to him. It was a time saving process that worked so well, I continued using it for the commission with Amarillo High's Bel Canto Men. Susan Hinrichs, Director of Bel Canto and I would exchange dozens of poems to consider for the new work. Once we settled on "Do Not Stand at My Grave and Weep" by Mary Frye for our text, I began the composing process. When a section was shaping up, I would email Susan PDFs and MP3s samples made from Finale for her to review. We both enjoyed this time saving process and I will probably continue it with future commissions. I often think about what Mozart or Beethoven would have done if they had a computer in their time.

Performer

janet — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 22:09:20 +0000

Welcome to the Performer side of my website! When you play a musical instrument for many, many years, you accumulate a lot of friends and a lot of memories. Entering information into this website has brought back many friends and memories back to me.

I've always enjoyed musical instruments. My first recollection of trying to play a musical instrument (besides the little toy piano I had as a child) was when I was confined to bed with the measles. My parents gave me a plastic ukelele and of course I would strum the four strings with joy but then Lawrence Welk came on the TV and I saw a guitarist playing. I watched closely as he moved his fingers over the fretboard. I thought to myself, "Eureka! I know how I can play more than four notes now!"

My official start as a musician was like most kids, starting in the band in junior high school. I was a seventh grader with a saxophone! Nice instrument but there were a million saxophone players in the band so by the time I got to the ninth grade, I asked my band director, Mr. Frank Masters, if I could switch to another instrument. He offered the oboe to me and without thinking I just said OK without realizing what I was getting myself into! If anyone had told me I would be spending a large portion of my life sitting at a reed table making reed after reed.... well, I probably would have said OK anyways.

When I started college, I was offered the opportunity to play the English horn. I remember my teacher, Felix Kraus from the Cleveland Orchestra commenting how my vibrato was very suitable for the English horn. It was not until I was stationed at Ft. Benjamin Harrison in the 74th Army Band when I was able to purchase my own English horn, that I really loved this odd cousin of the oboe. By the time I became the second oboist and English horn player for the Amarillo Symphony (pictured left), I was really hooked on making the English horn a household word, so to speak. I guess you could say the English horn gave me the incentive to get into composing and arranging. The repertoire for the English horn is quite small compared to piano, violin, or even the oboe, so hopefully I'm improving the English horn's situation. Shepherd's Trio has been a blessing to help me to expand the English horn repertoire.

My latest crazy adventure started in 2005 when I decided for some odd reason to take up the lever (folk, celtic) harp. That story is listed on the website. I hope you will enjoy the stories, pictures and information about the various performance opportunities I've had over the years. Thanks for visiting!

Please be sure to visit the Composer/Arranger side of my website. I think you will enjoy browsing through all the music listings.

Composer/Arranger

janet — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 20:58:43 +0000

Welcome to the Composer/Arranger side of my website. Please visit my CATALOG in the right sidebar for a list of all my compositions and arrangements with instrument information and pricing.

From the beginning of my music training, I have always had an interest in all instruments and how music is put together. I did not begin composing music until I was in graduate school at West Texas State University (now WTAMU), but after looking back at my music experiences in my life, I realized that composing became a natural step for me.

I remember my high school years in the Field High School Royal Gardsmen Marching Band (Ohio), sitting in the bleachers during the football game. Instead of watching the game, I would sit next to another band member who played a different instrument and I would pick their brain about how it was played. I would learn fingerings and concepts about the instrument through those football games and I never tired of asking my colleagues questions about their instrument.

During those same high school years, I was also interested in calligraphy and using manuscript pens to copy music. By copying and transcribing music of the masters, I got the "feel" of how music was written for various instruments and I began to understand that the "look" of the manuscript can affect how the musician approaches that first reading. If the manuscript is sloppy, spaced awkwardly, etc., the musician will not have a very good attitude towards reading the music and consequently not make it come alive. Transcribing allowed me to understand the "character" of each musical instrument and how they sounded in their various ranges. Arranging started evolving for me when I started listening to arrangements by Chip Davis and others who took a well-known song and made it an entirely new and creative piece.

I recall sitting in a Music Theory Pedagogy class taught by Dr. Norman J. Nelson at West Texas State University (now WTAMU). The class had submitted the first assignment which was to compose a melody. I carefully composed a melody and copied it into my best music manuscript. I remember a light going off in my head when Dr. Nelson played my melody at the piano and commented something like, "Now this could be a real melody in a real composition." I realized that up to that point I had always used someone else's melody, never my own. If I can arrange a piece of music with someone else's melody, why couldn't I arrange my own melody? That was the start of the composer stage. I still arrange because I enjoy it but now that I know I can compose original works, it has opened a new world for me.

In 2004, after composing and arranging numerous pieces for Shepherd's Trio and other ensembles and orchestras, I was asked by Dr. Steven Weber to consider arranging something for the Amarillo College graduation ceremony. Both Steve and Dr. Jim Rauscher, Chairman of the Music Department at Amarillo College (and Shepherd's Trio's pianist) knew my style of writing so they commissioned me to write an arrangement of "God Bless America" to feature opera diva Mary Jane Johnson, the Amarillo College Choir and Concert Band. Up until this point, I had only written for instrumentalists and not for voice. I've participated in various choirs throughout my life and understood some basic principles about voice writing but this was another new world for me working with words, voice leading and ranges, and the operatic voice. It was like a big addictive puzzle to me and I enjoyed every minute of it.

There is so much more to learn in composing and arranging. I've only scratched the surface of this long journey. I hope you will enjoy browsing through the composer/arranger portion of my website. Please check back often as I keep adding pieces from my current collection and to see what's new.

Each composition and arrangement has instrumentation information, examples of the score, and prices. Often an MP3 of either a recording or a Finale sound file will be listed.

Thanks for visiting!
Please be sure to visit the Performer side of my website too.

Freelancing

janet — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 19:30:44 +0000

Please check back later... information coming soon!

Lever Harp: A New Adventure

janet — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 18:10:19 +0000

In 2005, I made a decision that most musicians would question. I wanted to learn how to play the harp. I had always loved the harp because I used to play in a trio called Troissant which had an oboe, violin, and harp. We played a lot of jobs in Amarillo (weddings, receptions, concerts, etc.). I wanted to play something that would allow me to go to nursing homes or privates homes to play for elderly, homebound, or sick people because I was interested in the harp therapy idea. The big concert harp was definitely out of the question because it was technically way over my head, too expensive, and too big for me to handle so I investigated all the different kinds of celtic or folk harps on the internet. It was fascinating seeing all the different sizes and shapes offered. I finally selected a Lorraine 29 string floor harp from Stoney End in Red Wing, MN. The 29 strings allowed me to play four octaves from G at the bottom of the bass staff up to G an octave above the treble staff.

The harp was even more challenging than I had expected. Because I can play piano, I assumed the learning curve would be easier when going to harp but the only thing that made it easier was the fact that I could read treble and bass clef. After that, there were very few similarities between piano and harp. Often composers assume that all keyboard parts can be automatically played on the harp but I found out why that was not necessarily so.

I have been enjoying learning the harp. I am not studying with a teacher but I did get some good pointers from Amarillo Symphony harpists Stephanie Bowen and Olive Bernard. I have always admired their harp playing but when I started learning the harp I was extremely impressed with their abilities. People do not realize the challenges of the harp. For example, if you play in a room where the floor or carpet is the same color as your strings (red, blue, black, or vanilla color), you have a difficult time seeing your strings because they "dissapper". The color of the string blends with the floor color.

After getting more comfortable with harp playing, I decided to start arranging and composing some music for it. I have some of these pieces listed on this website under "List of Works".
Please be sure to visit the "Amaryllis Awakening" page because there is a video of a blossom slowing opening. The background music is me playing a composition I wrote for the harp caled "A Garden Stroll".

I have been playing at some of the local nursing homes: Bivins Memorial, Childers Place, Bivins Village, and Ussery-Roan Veterans Home. I have enjoyed playing and interacting with the residents of these places. My husband's grandmother is a resident at Bivins Memorial and she always enjoys my little concerts there. I have also been playing harp for the Alzheimer's Units which is very interesting. The staff tells me that the harp especially keeps their residents very calm. It is fun to see some of the retirement residents so interested in the harp, they often say they would like to get one of their own to learn. I can honestly say from experience, it's never too late to learn.

Panis Angelicus for Voice, Eng hrn, Hrn, Pno

janet — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 17:53:29 +0000

For Soprano or Tenor Voice, English horn, French horn, and Piano
By Cesar Franck, Arranged by Janet Lanier
Performance Time: approx. 3:18

Printed music: $15 for Full Score, Vocal Score, with English horn and French horn parts

Recorded by Vanessa Rauscher and Shepherd's Trio on the High Plains Public Radio Living Room Concert's Christmas Special.

Please contact me if you are interested in having this arrangement with alternate instrumentation.
A separate recording will be coming soon but until then, click here to listen to a sample Finale MP3 file: [attachment:1]

Price: $20.00

High Plains Public Radio Living Room Concerts

janet — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 17:30:36 +0000

In 2007, Shepherd's Trio was invited to perform a Christmas Concert for HPPR's (High Plains Public Radio) Living Concerts. We performed live at the HPPR studio in downtown Amarillo at 5th and Polk St. It was strange to perform a Christmas Concert in October but our audience really got into the mood with Christmas cookies from Belmar Bakery and coffee from Roasters. The HPPR studio is an elegant, intimate room with wonderful accoustics. We performed many of the pieces from our Night of Wonder CD but we also added many new arrangements borrowed from Hope Publishing Co. and SESAC.

We would like to thank our guest artist, Vanessa Rauscher (Jim Rauscher's wife) for her beautiful voice singing our new arrangement of Cesar Frank's Panis Angelicus.

Shepherd's Trio's Holiday Concert was broadcasted on HPPR (105.7 FM) on Dec 22, 23, and 24.

We would like to express our appreciation to HPPR's Stacy Yates and John Black for making this concert and broadcast happen. The concert is currently on the HPPR website and can be heard by clicking on:

Shepherd's Trio
Christmas Special Part One

Shepherd's Trio
Christmas Special Part Two

Hand Manuscript and the Old Days

janet — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 05:55:51 +0000

In my high school years, I used to play around with manuscript and calligraphy pens. I was experimenting with arranging for the band and small ensembles and I knew that if I didn't write out the music in a readable fashion, the musicians would never take my arrangement very seriously. These were the days before the music writing software so it was a tedious job to write out scores and parts. Of course, the first drafts were done in pencil but if I were really serious about reproducing official copies of my music, I had to write with ink on vellum, a very thin paper made from cotton.

Vellum used to be made from calf skin or other animal hides and some places still use that. As you can see by the photo on the left, vellum was translucent and the staff lines were permanently printed on the back. I would write the music on the other side with pencil first and make sure everything was spaced correctly. The more complex the piece, the harder it was to plan this out. After sketching the measures out, I would then take a calligraphy pen with the appropriate size nib and and start tracing the pencil marks. If I made a mistake, I would have to take a single-edged razor blade and scrape it off the vellum. Thank goodness we have computers and music writing software today!

You might have noticed some unusual music notation on this photo example. This is from a piece written back in my graduate days and it has an interesting story to it. Click here for more information about "Portals for Solo Oboe".

AHS Bel Canto Chorale Men and Premiere

janet — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 05:48:30 +0000

In May of 2007, Susan Hinrichs, the Director of Choirs at Amarillo High School called me about writing a piece for her Bel Canto Chorale Men. Each year Susan would apply to Texas Music Educator's Association (TMEA) to have her choirs accepted as honor choirs for the next convention. Her persistance paid off because for the 2008 Convention, her men's group was invited. This is a very big deal in Texas. Musicians and music educators from all over the huge state of Texas travel to San Antonio, TX for a four day convention. The High School All-State groups perform and many college-age and younger-aged ensembles perform. The exhibition hall is huge with vendors from all over.

Susan Hinrichs and I discussed what kind of piece she would like to have written. She wanted a piece to honor those who made sacrifices in the military for our freedoms. Specifically, this piece was to honor S/Sgt Andrew Caine Perkins, who was a graduate of Amarillo High School in 1998. He was killed in action on March 5, 2007 in Samarra, Iraq. The commissioned work was to honor not only those in the military but also their families because both make huge sacrifices in times like these.

The ensemble would be preparing a 25 minute program and Susan had some other pieces in mind for the program. We both looked through a lot of poetry and narrowed it down to a poem called "Do Not Stand at My Grave and Weep". This was a poem written by Baltimore homemaker, Mary Frye, to ease the pain of her friend, Margaret, who's mother died in Germany during Hitler's time. It was too dangerous to go to Germany and the woman continually weeped that she could not even visit her dead mother's grave. Mary Frye's poem, which was her first attempt to poetry, is beautifully written with a healing message that I thought was as timely in the 21st Century as it was back in 1932.

Susan also wanted a piece that was somewhat challenging for her group. Throughout the summer of 2007, I would email PDFs of the music sections I had written and Susan would give me feedback as to whether the vocal writing was challenging enough. I recall one funny discussion we had towards the end of completion. Susan commented that the introduction I had was too "girly" so I laughed and promptly got to work on a more "manly" introduction. It's nice to work on a piece with someone who will be honest with you about what they hear.

Amarillo High School Bel Canto Chorale Men
Performing at First Baptist Church of Amarillo

Bel Canto began working on my piece and the other program pieces in the Fall to prepare for the February concert at TMEA. My piece was challenging enough for them but they loved it and they worked very hard to prepare it well. As I visited various rehearsals through the months, I could hear it coming together. The expressions on the singers faces told me they understood what the piece was about and they took it with all seriousness.

Bel Canto was also preparing a piece called "Praise Him" by Michael Cox. When Steve Weber listened to the piece he had a great idea to add brass parts with the piano accompaniment so Susan had me write brass quartet parts and it really helped make the piece a great opening number. The brass quartet was for one trumpet, two horns, and a trombone. Roger Edwards on trumpet, Becky Casso and David Lanier on horns, and Scott Meyer on trombone did a great job on the accompaniment along with Janice Davis on the piano. I also did a little tweaking on the Bach "Hallelujah, Amen" string quartet parts (played by AHS violinists Lynsi Porterfield, Erin Weber, violist Emily Eldride, and cellist Noah Littlejohn) to help make the accompaniment a little lighter.

In preparation for the TMEA event, Susan Hinrichs invited various clinicians to work with her group. Steve Weber from Amarillo College gave so much of his time and expertise over those months. Steve has a beautiful voice himself but he also has a gift for making vocal groups sound better than they ever knew they could sound. The well-known choral clinician and past TMEA president, Robert Stovall also worked with the group. Robert did a beautiful job getting them very excited about the music. I appreciated the respect he gave to my piece when he rehearsed. He emphasized every little nuance and brought the music and words to life.

The big day, February 15, 2008 arrived. The performance was in one of the huge ballrooms of the Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center. The ballroom can hold 3,000 people. The performance was recorded and video taped by Mark Custom Recording Service. Bel Canto was so well prepared, cool, calm, and collected, or so it seemed to me that day. They did a beautiful job in the entire program. Please listen to their performance at TMEA 2008:

[attachment:1]

Here are a few pictures to enjoy from TMEA:

TMEA Rehearsal in the Ballroom that seats 3,000

TMEA Rehearsal with Piano Accompanist, Janice Davis

TMEA Rehearsal with Brass Quartet

TMEA Rehearsal with String Quartet

Soloist Ryan Sustaita at the TMEA Rehearsal "Les Miserables"

Soloists Chris Thompson & Peter Hargrave
at the TMEA Rehearsal "Les Miserables"

Attachment	Size
Do Not Stand at My Grave and Weep TMEA.mp3	5.47 MB

Amarillo Civic Chorus

janet — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 05:37:44 +0000

Please check back later... more "official" information coming soon
Until then, enjoy a few pictures and please take a look at the
Premiere Performance of Valley of Silence page

Poster from November 10, 2006
Premiering Valley of Silence

Program from November 2007

Purchase

david — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 05:05:09 +0000

Thanks for clicking on the Purchase link. Most of my compositions and arrangements are for sale. I add new pieces often and will be offering a catalog soon so please check back often.

Prices and an "Add to cart" button appears on every composition or arrangement page. The "Add to cart" buttons allow you make your selection and sends it to a shopping cart. After making all of your selections, you can then "check out" and pay through the security of PayPal. In order to help our environment, all pieces are available as digital downloads. After you make your selection and PayPal payment, you will be sent an email with a link to the download page where you can obtain a PDF of the purchased selection. Printed copies will also be available, if you prefer.

Many of my trio pieces have the score, plus the individual instrumental parts combined into one download (full score followed by the instrumental parts). Please note that pieces have alternate instrumentations available. If you find a selection you like but do not see an alternate instrumentation offered, please contact me through my "Contact Page."

Several of my printed music scores are published by TrevCo Music in Florida. TrevCo is great place for double reed players because owner Trevor Cramer specializes in double reed music only. If you are looking for a unique instrumentation with oboe, English horn, or bassoon, try the catalog search feature on Trevor's website. It's a time saver!

SHEPHERD'S TRIO CDs are available for purchase on this site for $15 each, plus $2.00 for shipping and handling. Please contact me through the "Contact Page" or through any comment area for more information.

Shepherd's Trio CDs are also available through CD Baby at $15 each. Individual CD tracks may also be purchased as MP3s on the CD Baby website. CD Baby is a little online record store (truthfully, it's really huge) that sells albums by independent musicians. Started by Derek Sivers in Portland, Oregon, CD Baby has been in business and thriving since 1998 and is one of the largest sellers of independent music on the web.

Amarillo Symphony Orchestra

david — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 04:20:52 +0000

I have been the second oboist/English horn player for the Amarillo Symphony since May of 1978. It has been a wonderful orchestra. We have performed a lot of great music, accompanied many famous artists, and commissioned some great symphonies. The members of the ASO have been like loving siblings to me.

I auditioned for Thomas Conlin in the summer of 1978. I had just finished my three years enlistment in the 74th Army Band and was ready to dive into an orchestra. Since the expert reign of Thomas Conlin, we have had many more wonderful conductors, Robert Bernhardt, James Setapen, and now Kimbo Ishii-Eto.

When people ask me when I joined the ASO, I always tell them it was the "year of the flood." The ASO was rehearsing the music to Star Wars (the original trilogy) at Amarillo High School in preparation to playing for Fun Fest. I remember packing up my instruments when someone announced to be very careful when going home because Amarillo and Canyon was flooded. This sounded very unlikely to me at the time because I had only seen the very dry panhandle and couldn't image a flood being possible but it was true. It was truly a flood, one that people still talk about today.

The ASO has seen many fine musicians come and go as they step from the ASO to bigger orchestras. It's always sad to see a fine player leave but we're always happy to see them progress in their careers. Over time, we have seen more and more musicians who have decided to stay in the ASO and call Amarillo or Canyon their home where they can raise their children in a safe environment. There are many factors that have affected the growth and maturity of the symphony here. Certainly financial and volunteer support from the community, fine leadership, better performance hall conditions are factors but having more advanced players joining and remaining in the ASO has made a difference.

The Amarillo Symphony is so blessed with their new concert hall. In 1978 our rehearsals were at Amarillo High School and the performances were in the Amarillo Civic Center. In later years we were so excited that we could perform and rehearse in the Civic Center but when the new Globe News Center for the Performing Arts was completed, it was like entering a new era. The hall is so beautiful and unique from any other concert hall you'll ever see.

Another unique venue for the ASO is the Palo Duro Canyon Amphitheatre (aerial view left) in the Palo Duro State Park, just east of Canyon, TX. Performing in the PDC Amphitheatre is a wonderful experience because the accoustics are surprisingly very good. The PDC is also the inspiration for a 1992 commissioned work by the ASO. Symphony No. 3 or Palo Duro Canyon Symphony written by Dr. Samuel Jones describes the history and terrain of this expansive canyon that immediately drops in the middle of a never ending flat plain. I was so excited about premiering this piece because it has a beautiful English horn solo in the middle. If this symphony makes it in the history books, I'll have the pleasure of knowing I was the first to play it.

Samuel Jones was also commissioned to write another work for the ASO 75th Anniversary called Roundings: Musing and Meditations on Texas New Deal Murals which is available on the Naxos label.

Finale Work for Denise Parr-Scanlin's Dissertation

janet — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 03:47:27 +0000

When Dr. Denise Parr-Scanlin, Assistant Professor of Music at West Texas A&M University worked on her Doctorate of Musical Arts degree at the University of Texas at Austin, she asked me to help format musical examples for her treatise: Beethoven as Pianist: A View Through the Early Chamber Music. Denise has been a long-time friend of mine (and was Maid of Honor at my wedding) so I was honored to do some Finale work for her. Her treatise is very fascinating and I highly recommend it to all.

Denise is a virtuosic pianist and can play anything you put in front of her. An example of her fine playing can be found on the NAXOS label playing the Samuel Jones' Cello Sonata with Manny Lopez, cellist for the Harrington String Quartet and the Amarillo Symphony.

Finale does a great job of formatting musical examples that can be easily exported as EPS or TIFFs into a word-processing document. Here are a couple of examples from Denise's treatise:

Be Thou My Vision for Bass/Bar. Solo, Instr. Obblig., SATB Chorus, Pno.

janet — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 03:14:20 +0000

For Baritone Solo, SATB Choir, and Piano with Instrumental Obbligato
Ancient Irish Melody
Arranged by Janet Lanier
Performance Time: approx. 4:04
Price per copy: $2.50 for each score, obbligato part sold separately

Click here to order the English horn obbligato part. (Price $2.50)

Click here to order the C Instrument obbligato part (Price $2.50)

(Please note that I use the honor system here. You may purchase one copy of the full score for perusal purposes or you may select the number of copies according to your ensemble needs. If you wish to purchase numerous copies and have them printed for you, please write to me through the comment portion of the Check Out process or through my Contact Page so that I can tell you the cost of shipping and handling.)

Click here to listen to "Be Thou My Vision" recorded by the Amarillo Civic Chorus with Steve Weber, Baritone Solo and Janet Lanier, English horn:
[attachment:1]

Price: $2.50

St. Mary's Church Commission

janet — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 02:57:39 +0000

I have been commissioned to write a piece for St. Mary's Choir to celebrate the rebuilding of their sanctuary in 2009. In 2007, a fire destroyed St. Mary's Church's sanctuary. Here is an article from the Amarillo Globe News about the rebuilding. The original article can be found here.

Night of Wonder for Eng hrn, Hrn, Pno

janet — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 01:30:44 +0000

For English horn (with opt ocarina/recorder part), French horn, and Piano
A Medley of Four Christmas Carols
Arranged by Janet Lanier
Performance Time: 16:00
Printed music $25.00 for Score and Eng horn and French horn parts

Recorded by SHEPHERD'S TRIO on their NIGHT OF WONDER CD
Medley includes: O Come, O Come Emmanuel, Good Christian Men Rejoice, What Child is This, O Come, All Ye Faithful

Also available for other instruments: Flute, Oboe, or Bb Clarinet
Click to purchase an alternate Flute or Oboe part to the English horn ($2.50)
Click to purchase an alternate Bb Clarinet part to the English horn ($2.50)

Click here to listen to sample MP3s of:

[attachment:1]
[attachment:2]
[attachment:3]
[attachment:4]

Price: $25.00

Silent Night for Eng hrn, Hrn, Pno (and opt. video)

janet — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 01:21:09 +0000

For English horn, French horn, and Piano
Franz Gruber, Arranged by Janet Lanier
Performance Time: 6:25
Printed music $15.00 Coordinating video $20
Recorded by SHEPHERD'S TRIO on their NIGHT OF WONDER CD
Music published by TrevCo Music.

VIDEO available: This Silent Night arrangement coordinates with a movie showing stunning images of stained glass windows. Each window shows the life of Christ from the nativity scene to the resurrection. This movie can be displayed on any multimedia player (Power Point, etc.) while the performers provide the music background. Markings and anchor points in the music allow the performers to line up with the video. Churches request Silent Night and the video every year to bring a special Christmas message to their congregations. Click here to purchase the video.

Also available for other instruments: Flute or Oboe or Clarinet, and Bassoon or Cello

Click here to listen to a sample MP3: [attachment:1]

Price: $15.00

Coventry Carol for Eng hrn, Hrn, Pno

janet — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 00:57:44 +0000

For English horn, French horn, and Piano
16th Century English Christmas Carol, Arranged by Janet Lanier
Performance Time: 4:47
Printed music $15.00 for Score and English horn and Horn parts. (Click on the "Add to Cart" button below.)

Recorded by SHEPHERD'S TRIO on their NIGHT OF WONDER CD
and the Eveline Rivers Christmas Project CD

Also available for other instruments: Flute or Oboe or Clarinet.

Click to purchase an alternate Flute or Oboe part to the English horn ($2.50)
Click to purchase an alternate Bb Clarinet part to the English horn ($2.50)

Click here to listen to a sample MP3: [attachment:1]

Price: $15.00

God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen for Eng hrn, Hrn, Pno

janet — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 00:51:44 +0000

For English horn, French horn, and Piano
Traditional, Arranged by Janet Lanier
Performance Time: 5:15
Printed music $18.00 for Score with English horn and Horn parts (Click on the "Add to Cart" button below)

Recorded by SHEPHERD'S TRIO on their NIGHT OF WONDER CD

Also available for other instruments: Flute or Oboe or Clarinet.

Click to purchase an alternate Flute or Oboe part to the English horn ($2.50)
Click to purchase an alternate Bb Clarinet part to the English horn ($2.50)

Click here to listen to a sample MP3: [attachment:1]

Price: $18.00

Wexford Carol for Eng hrn, Horn, Pno

janet — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 00:47:56 +0000

For English horn, French horn, and Piano
Traditional Irish Christmas Carol, Arranged by Janet Lanier
Performance Time: 6:09
Printed music - $15 for full score with English horn and French horn parts (Click on the "Add to Cart" button below.)

Recorded by SHEPHERD'S TRIO on their NIGHT OF WONDER CD

Click to purchase an alternate Flute or Oboe part to the English horn ($2.50)
Click to purchase an alternate Bb Clarinet part to the English horn ($2.50)

Click here to listen to a sample MP3: [attachment:1]

Price: $15.00

Angels We Have Heard on High for Eng hrn, Hrn, Pno

janet — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 00:43:58 +0000

For English horn, French horn, and Piano
Traditional French Christmas Carol, Arranged by Janet Lanier
Performance Time: 5:05
Printed music $15.00 for Score with English horn and French horn parts
(To purchase, please click on the "Add to cart" button below)

Recorded by SHEPHERD'S TRIO on their NIGHT OF WONDER CD

Please inquire through my Contact Page for alternate instrumentations of this arrangement.

Click here to listen to a sample MP3: [attachment:1]

Price: $15.00

O Come, Emmanuel for Eng hrn, Hrn, Pno

janet — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 21:10:31 +0000

For English horn, French horn, and Piano
Christmas Carol/Latin Hymn, Arranged by Janet Lanier
Performance Time - 4:21
Printed music $15 for Score with English horn and French horn parts (Click on the "Add to Cart" button below)

Recorded by SHEPHERD'S TRIO on their NIGHT OF WONDER CD

Also available for other instruments: Flute, Oboe, or Clarinet.

Click to purchase an alternate Flute or Oboe part to the English horn ($2.50)
Click to purchase an alternate Bb Clarinet part to the English horn ($2.50)

Click here to listen to a sample MP3: [attachment:1]

Price: $15.00

Valley of Silence Premiere

janet — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 01:09:31 +0000

The world premiere performance of "Valley of Silence" on November 10, 2006 was very well received. I had been working on "Valley of Silence" for almost a year. I located a poem called "Song of the Mystic" by Rev. Abram J. Ryan in December of 2005 and started coming up with music in January 2006. The chorus had been working on it since August 2006. What an exciting moment to perform a newly composed work for chorus and orchestra in a newly built performing arts hall for an audience of about 500, many of whom had never been to a Civic Chorus performance nor had they been to a performance in the new Globe News Center for the Performing Arts. It was a night of "firsts".

I so appreciate the work the chorus put in preparing this work. Many expressed their enthusiasm to me and told me what their favorite sections were. I had some fun comments comparing the sections to other composers (from Ralph Vaughn Williams to music from the "Lord of the Rings") which I consider to be quite a compliment. A gentleman in the audience, Charles Gillingham, who took a photograph from the concert was kind enough to let us use the photo for the CD and DVD cover. I think it looks spectacular. This is the jewel case (pictured below) that I designed for the CD.

I sent a recording to Samuel Jones, a well-known composer who I highly respect. Dr. Jones has written two wonderful symphonies for the Amarillo Symphony (Symphony No. 3 - the Palo Duro Symphony and Roundings: Musings and Meditations on the Texas New Deal Murals). Whenever I compose something I'm especially proud of, I send Sam a copy and ask for his comments. This is what Sam Jones observed about Valley of Silence:

"I listened to your CD yesterday and thoroughly enjoyed it. Obviously, the chorus and the audience did, too. I was afraid the opening was going to stay in B minor a bit too long, but then with the sixth stanza you began to modulate. By the time you got to the eighth stanza I felt you reached your most distinctive musical statement. The oscillating thirds over the F-sharp pedal was very effective, somewhat reminiscent of Hanson's "Lament of Beowulf." All in all, it was a lovely piece, one which I'm sure the chorus found gratifying and rewarding.
All best wishes,
Sam"

High Plains Public Radio (HPPR) broadcasts an hour-long program called "Monday with the Maestro". They were very interested in interviewing me about the premiere and wanted to hear about the process of how a composer creates such a work. The recording of the interview (minus the recording of the concert) has been split into three parts. My deepest thanks go to Mary Palmer and Stacy Yates at HPPR for putting this interview together:

[attachment:1]
[attachment:2]
[attachment:3]

Valley of Silence for SATB Chorus and Orchestra

janet — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 01:03:58 +0000

For Chorus (SSAATTBB) and Small Orchestra
Fl/Picc, Ob, Clar in A, Bsn, Hrn, Timp, Orch Pno, Vln 1 & 2, Vla, Vc, DB (with separate rehearsal piano part)
Commissioned in 2006 by the Amarillo Civic Chorus under the direction of Dr. Steven Weber

Price: $5.00 for each Choral and Rehearsal Piano Score (Click add to cart below)
Click for Full Score and orchestral parts ($45.00)

The original poem "Song of the Mystic" by Rev. Abram J. Ryan can be found here.

Read more about the PREMIERE of Valley of Silence

Click here to listen to Valley of Silence MP3

Price: $5.00

Premiere of "God Bless America" Arrangement for Chorus and Band

janet — Tue, 26 Feb 2008 22:48:20 +0000

In 2004, Dr. Steven Weber, Director of Choral Activities at Amarillo College and Director of the Amarillo Civic Chorus asked me to write a new arrangement of "God Bless America" for the Amarillo College Chorus and Band with opera star Mary Jane Johnson as soloist. They wanted to perform it for the Amarillo College graduation on May 13, 2005. What a great opportunity for an arranger/composer! When arranging for instrumentalists, I'm definitely in my comfort zone but in 2004, arranging vocal music was still a learning experience for me.

The first consideration I needed to make is to figure out a maze of what keys to use. These were just a few factors I had to consider:

1. Modulate AT LEAST once in the piece with a middle section to highlight the band
2. Get Mary Jane's voice up to a high Bb in the final measures.
3. Make sure the band was always in a "friendly" key (which means not too many sharps)
4. Make sure the chorus was always in a "friendly" range

I observed the band and the chorus during their regular rehearsals to see what strengths I could use in the arrangement. I listened for technique and range in both groups. An arranger needs to know his performers before writing so that the parts are not too difficult nor too easy.

I started "mapping" out the layout such as modulations, what group (solo, woodwinds, brass, female chorus, male chorus, etc) would be featured and where I wanted the climax of the piece to occur. Of course, most choral/instrumental pieces have an "a cappella" section so I needed to consider where that would be. When I arrange or compose I like to write something interesting for every part so that each performer has something to look forward to. (I guess my years of playing boring, left-over 2nd oboe parts has made an impression on me.) I even think about the conductor and try to give him something that is going to be fun to conduct.

Thank goodness I live in an age of music software for the computer! Writing a piece like this was much easier when using Finale software. (Don't worry Sibelius software users, I'm not trying to promote only Finale.) It's so great to be able to put the notes into the computer and try out all kinds of ideas without lifting an eraser. If I want to try a key change in this place but then find out it causes a problem somewhere else… no big deal, just revert to an old SAVE or hit that undo key. Can you imagine what Mozart could have done with a computer?

After getting the first draft done which still had a lot of band parts to be written, I submitted a choral score with piano accompaniment to Steve Weber. That's an important step when writing for a large ensemble like this. Even if you don't plan to have a piano part in the instrumentation, you still need to write a rehearsal piano part for the chorus. This would basically be a reduction of the band parts. Steve has a great chorus at Amarillo College that is very flexible. As we both listened to just the chorus and piano accompaniment, Steve made some great suggestions on splitting parts more than what I had which gave it a richer and fuller sound. Steve is very good at telling his ensemble how to try different voicings. I certainly learned a lot just in that one rehearsal.

I remember the first rehearsal with the full band, chorus, and Mary Jane Johnson. I realize being an opera star requires one to have a huge voice to project in the big halls but I can honestly tell you, I still get a thrill with the power of Mary Jane Johnson's voice. I remember standing next to her singing while the band played full volume. Believe it or not, I really had trouble hearing the band over her voice! It amazes me how one human voice can be more powerful than a full concert band. I guess that's one of the many reasons she's the opera star.

After tweaking parts here and there, the arrangement was ready to go. I attended the dress rehearsal for the graduation and then came to the graduation that same day. It was so thrilling! When the piece was announced as a "world premiere", I got a lump in my throat.

Click here to listen to a sample of the premiere performance:
[attachment:1]

Many thanks to the Amarillo College Band, the Amarillo College Chorus, and the very wonderful Mary Jane Johnson for their great work on this arrangement. Many thanks also to Scott Beckett for preparing the AC Band and playing whatever instruments needed to be covered at all the performances, plus his generosity in providing the above recording. I also owe a lot of thanks Steve Weber and Amarillo College for giving me the opportunity to arrange for such a large group.

Polk St. United Methodist Church requested that I transcribe this arrangement from band to orchestra. Find out more.

Click here to see the video of the orchestral premiere at Polk St. United Methodist Church.

Attachment	Size
God_Bless_America	1.22 MB

Shepherd's Trio CDs

janet — Tue, 26 Feb 2008 05:55:22 +0000

SHEPHERD'S TRIO is an unusual mix of English horn, French horn, and Piano that leads the listener to a deep and mellow corner of meditation. Janet Lanier (English horn), David Lanier (French horn), and Jim Rauscher (piano) formed Shepherd's Trio after playing a number of trio pieces together for Christmas Eve Services at St. Mary's Church where Jim Rauscher and his wife Vanessa are Music Ministers.

CDs may be purchased through this website for $15 each plus shipping or they may be purchased through www.cdbaby.com. or www.behemoth.com MP3s of individual tracks may also be purchased at either of these great sites. Printed music of both CDs may be purchased at this website. Some selections are also available at TrevCo Music in Florida.

Shepherd's Trio's Song of Joy CD is a recording of meditative, original compositions and creative arrangements of well known hymns. Click here to purchase the SONG OF JOY CD.

Click the song title to
hear an MP3 sample:

[attachment:1] by J. Lanier
[attachment:2] by Martin J. Nystrom, arr. by J. Lanier
[attachment:3] 12th C. English Carol, arr. by J. Lanier
[attachment:4] by J. Lanier
[attachment:5] by J. Lanier
[attachment:6] by George w. Warren, arr. by J. Lanier
[attachment:7] by J. Lanier
[attachment:8] by John Newton, arr. by J. Lanier
[attachment:9] John Wyeth, arr. by J. Lanier
[attachment:10] by J. Lanier
[attachment:11] by J. Michael Haydn, arr. by J. Lanier

Their Night of Wonder CD is a recording of spirited and joyfully worshipful Christmas carols. Click here to purchase the NIGHT OF WONDER CD.

Click the song title to
hear an MP3 sample:

[attachment:12] Latin Hymn, arr. by J. Lanier
[attachment:13] Traditional French Carol,
arr. by J. Lanier
[attachment:14] Traditional Irish Carol, arr. by J. Lanier
[attachment:15] Traditional, arr. by J. Lanier
[attachment:16] 16th C. English Carol, arr. by J. Lanier
[attachment:17] 12th C. English Carol,
arr. by J. Lanier
[attachment:18] by Adolphe Adam, arr. by Jim Rauscher
[attachment:19] by Franz Gruber, arr. by J. Lanier
[attachment:20] Medley arr. by J. Lanier
[attachment:21] Medley arr. by J. Lanier
[attachment:22] Medley arr. by J. Lanier
[attachment:23] Medley arr. by J. Lanier

Please visit the Silent Night page to see a demonstration of a video that coordinates with our Silent Night arrangement. The video and printed music is available for purchase.

Come Thou Fount for Eng hrn, Hrn, Pno

janet — Tue, 26 Feb 2008 05:27:21 +0000

For English horn, French horn, and Piano
By John Wyeth, Arranged by Janet Lanier
Performance Time - 2:43
Printed music $15 for Score with English horn and French horn parts (click on the "Add to Cart" button below)
Published by TrevCo Music.

Recorded by SHEPHERD'S TRIO on their SONG OF JOY CD

Also available for other instruments: Flute or Oboe or Clarinet, and Bassoon or Cello

Click to purchase an alternate Flute or Oboe part to the English horn ($2.50)
Click to purchase an alternate Bb Clarinet part to the English horn ($2.50)

Click to purchase an alternate Bassoon or Cello part to the French horn ($2.50)

Click to purchase a Piano/Full Score only. ($10.00)
(recommended if you are using alternate instrumentation)

Click here to listen to a sample MP3: [attachment:1]

Price: $15.00

Do Not Stand at My Grave and Weep for TTBB Chorus and Piano

janet — Tue, 26 Feb 2008 03:31:25 +0000

For Men's Chorus TTBB and Piano
Text by Mary Frye, Music by Janet Lanier
Performance time - 4:45
Price: $2.50 per vocal/piano copy

Commissioned by the Amarillo High School Bel Canto Chorale Men directed by Susan Hinrichs for the 2008 Honor Choir Performance at the Texas Music Educator's Association Convention (TMEA) in San Antonio, TX. Composed in honor of those who gave their lives for our freedom and in memory of S/Sgt Andrew Caine Perkins, AHS Class of 1998, KIA March 5, 2007, Samarra, Iraq.

DO NOT STAND AT MY GRAVE AND WEEP
Do not stand at my grave and weep
I am not there. I do not sleep.
I am a thousand winds that blow.
I am the diamond glints of snow.
I am the gentle autumn rain.
When you awaken in the morning's hush
I am the swift uplifting rush
Of quiet birds in circled flight.
I am the soft stars that shine at night.
Do not stand at my grave and cry;
I am not there. I did not die.

See the video of the performance of "Do Not Stand
at My Grave and Weep" performed by the Amarillo High School
Bel Canto Chorale Men.

Listen to a recording of AHS Bel Canto Chorale Men performing "Do Not Stand at My Grave and Weep" for the 2008 TMEA Convention
[attachment:1]

Listen to a recording of the Amarillo Civic Chorus Men:
[attachment:2]

Price: $2.50

Amazing Grace for Eng hrn, Hrn, Pno

janet — Mon, 25 Feb 2008 23:04:40 +0000

For English horn, French horn, and Piano
By John Newton, Arranged by Janet Lanier
Performance Time - 4:09
Printed music $15 for Score and English horn and French horn parts
(To purchase, please click on the "Add to cart" button below)
Published by TrevCo Music.

Recorded by SHEPHERD'S TRIO on their SONG OF JOY CD

Also available for other instruments: Flute or Oboe
Click to purchase an alternate Flute or Oboe part to the English horn ($2.50)

Click here to listen to a sample MP3: [attachment:1]

Price: $15.00

God of Our Fathers for Eng hrn, Hrn, Pno

janet — Mon, 25 Feb 2008 22:33:48 +0000

For English horn, French horn, and Piano
By George W. Warren, Arranged by Janet Lanier
Performance Time - 5:31
Printed music $15 for Score with English horn and Horn parts (Click on the "Add to Cart" button below)

Recorded by SHEPHERD'S TRIO on their SONG OF JOY CD

Also available for other instruments: Flute or Oboe or Clarinet and Bassoon or Cello

Click to purchase an alternate Flute part to the English horn ($2.50)
Click to purchase an alternate Oboe part to the English horn ($2.50)
Click to purchase an alternate Bb Clarinet part to the English horn ($2.50)

Click to purchase an alternate Bassoon part to the French horn ($2.50)
Click to purchase an alternate Cello part to the French horn ($2.50)

Click to purchase a Piano/Full Score only. ($10.00)
(recommended if you are using alternate instrumentation)

Click here to listen to a sample MP3: [attachment:1]

Price: $15.00

Shepherd's Trio

janet — Mon, 25 Feb 2008 21:54:00 +0000

Shepherd's Trio is a mellow and rich mix of English horn, French horn, and Piano. Their Song of Joy CD is made of creative arrangements of well known hymns and original compositions and provides an atmosphere of prayerful relaxation. Their Night of Wonder CD is made of creative arrangements of well known Christmas carols providing an atmosphere of worshipful and joyful Christmas spirit.

Janet Lanier (English horn) is originally from Ohio where she received a Bachelor's Degree in Music Education and played in the Akron and Canton Symphonies. She served in the 74th Army Band in Indianapolis and then moved to Amarillo where she received her Masters in Performance at WTAMU. Janet has played the oboe and English horn for the Amarillo Symphony since 1978 and has been a soloist with both the Amarillo Symphony and Randel Chamber Orchestra. Besides performing with various groups such as the Chamber Music Amarillo, Music Makes the Difference, Amarillo Opera, and several local churches, she spends most of her time composing and arranging music. Janet has completed a number of commissioned works including "Valley of Silence" for chorus and orchestra and "Do Not Stand at My Grave and Weep" for men's chorus and piano.

David Lanier (French horn) is a native of the Amarillo area and has played in the Amarillo Symphony since 1989. Besides performing in the Randel Chamber Orchestra, Amarillo Opera and Chamber Music Amarillo, David frequently plays in several local churches in the area. He holds degrees in Music Theory, Composition and Performance from West Texas A&M University. In addition to his musical talents, David has great expertise with computers and has been a full-time web programmer since 1996. David and Janet have been happily married since 1997.

Dr. Jim Rauscher (piano) has resided in Amarillo since 1981, as Professor of Piano at Amarillo College, where he also serves as chairman of the Music Department. He showed an early affinity for music, and began piano studies at the age of six in his hometown of Medford, Wisconsin. He also studied the trumpet, and entered college as a trumpet major. He holds degrees from the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire, the University of Illinois at Urbana/Champaign, and a Ph.D. in Fine Arts degree from Texas Tech University. Jim has been extremely active in the Texas Panhandle as a solo recitalist, accompanist, teacher, and adjudicator. He has been the principal pianist for the Amarillo Symphony Orchestra since 1981, and has appeared as guest soloist with the orchestra during four separate seasons. He has also been the featured soloist with the Randel Chamber Orchestra on several occasions. Jim has presented solo piano recitals frequently at Amarillo College, and has performed at numerous college campuses across the state and for the Texas Music Teachers Association state convention. In 1986, he was named "Music Teacher of the Year" by the Amarillo Music Teachers Association. His students have been frequent winners in area competitions. He and his wife, Vanessa, are the music and choir directors at St. Mary's Catholic Church in Amarillo, and have two grown children, John and Ann.

Glory, Still, and Gentle for Eng hrn, Hrn, Pno

janet — Mon, 25 Feb 2008 20:21:18 +0000

For English horn, French horn, and Piano
Performance Time: 4:49
Printed music $20.00 for Score and English horn and French horn parts (click on "Add to cart" button below)
Published by TrevCo Music.

Recorded by SHEPHERD'S TRIO on their SONG OF JOY CD

Also available for other instruments: Flute or Oboe or Clarinet, and Bassoon or Cello

Click to purchase an alternate Flute or Oboe part to the English horn ($2.50)
Click to purchase an alternate Bb Clarinet part to the English horn ($2.50)

Click to purchase an alternate Bassoon or Cello part to the French horn ($2.50)

Click to purchase a Piano/Full Score only. ($15.00)
(recommended if you are using alternate instrumentation)

Click here to listen to a sample MP3: [attachment:1]

Price: $20.00

I Lift My Lamp for Eng hrn, Hrn, Pno

janet — Mon, 25 Feb 2008 18:44:48 +0000

For English horn, French horn, and Piano
Performance Time: 4:48
Printed music $20.00 for Score and English horn and French horn parts (click on "Add to cart" button below)
Published by TrevCo Music.

Recorded by SHEPHERD'S TRIO on their SONG OF JOY CD

Also available for other instruments: Flute or Oboe or Clarinet, and Bassoon or Cello

Click to purchase an alternate Flute or Oboe part to the English horn ($2.50)
Click to purchase an alternate Bb Clarinet part to the English horn ($2.50)

Click to purchase an alternate Bassoon or Cello part to the French horn ($2.50)

Click to purchase a Piano/Full Score only. ($15.00)
(recommended if you are using alternate instrumentation)

Click here to listen to a sample MP3: [attachment:1]

Price: $20.00

I Am God's Child for Eng hrn, Hrn, Pno

janet — Mon, 25 Feb 2008 05:33:18 +0000

For English horn, French horn, and Piano
Performance Time: 3:37
Printed music $20.00 for Score and English horn and French horn parts (click on "Add to cart" button below)

Recorded by SHEPHERD'S TRIO on their SONG OF JOY CD

Also available for other instruments: Alternate oboe part for the English horn part. Please click here to purchase the alternate oboe part. ($1.50)

This was originally written for a young children's chorus with instrumental obbligato and piano accompaniment. Please contact me if you would like more information about this version.

Click here to listen to a sample MP3: [attachment:1]

Price: $20.00

Tomorrow Shall Be My Dancing Day for Eng hrn, Hrn, Pno

janet — Mon, 25 Feb 2008 05:06:07 +0000

12th Century English Carol
Arranged by J. Lanier
For English horn, French horn, Piano
Performance Time - 5:21
Published by TrevCo Music.

Printed music - $18 for full score with English horn and French horn parts (Click on the "Add to Cart" button below.)

Recorded by SHEPHERD'S TRIO on their SONG OF JOY and NIGHT OF WONDER CDs

Also available for other instruments: Flute or Oboe or Clarinet.

Click to purchase an alternate Flute or Oboe part to the English horn ($2.50)
Click to purchase an alternate Bb Clarinet part to the English horn ($2.50)

Click here to listen to an MP3: [attachment:1]

Price: $18.00

As the Deer for Eng hrn, Hrn, Pno

janet — Mon, 25 Feb 2008 04:24:41 +0000

For English horn, French horn, and Piano
By Martin J. Nystrom, Arranged by Janet Lanier
Performance Time: 4:46
Printed music $15.00 for Score with English horn and French horn parts
(To purchase, please click on the "Add to cart" button below)

Recorded by SHEPHERD'S TRIO on their SONG OF JOY CD

Please inquire through my Contact Page for alternate instrumentations of this arrangement.

Click here to listen to a sample MP3: [attachment:1]

Price: $15.00

Processional for Eng hrn, Hrn, Pno

janet — Sun, 24 Feb 2008 20:40:00 +0000

For English horn, French horn, and Piano
Performance Time - 5:35
Printed music - $20.00 for Score with English horn and French horn parts (click on "Add to cart" button below)

Great versatile piece for wedding processionals or occasions where
you need to time the music with an event. This arrangement is also available for a Flute/Harp Duet. ($20.00)

Recorded by SHEPHERD'S TRIO on their SONG OF JOY CD

Also available for other instruments: Flute or Oboe or Clarinet and Bassoon or Cello

Click to purchase an alternate Oboe part to the English horn ($2.50)
Click to purchase an alternate Flute part to the English horn ($2.50)
Click to purchase an alternate Bb Clarinet part to the English horn ($2.50)

Click to purchase an alternate Bassoon or Cello part to the French horn ($2.50)

Click to purchase a Piano/Full Score only. ($15.00)
(recommended if you are using alternate instrumentation)

Click here to listen to a sample MP3: [attachment:1]

Price: $20.00

Song of Joy for Eng hrn, Hrn, Pno

janet — Sun, 24 Feb 2008 20:28:55 +0000

For English horn, French horn, and Piano
Performance Time: 5:17

Printed music $20.00 for Score and English horn and French horn parts (click on "Add to cart" button below)

Recorded by SHEPHERD'S TRIO on their SONG OF JOY CD

Click here to listen to a sample MP3: [attachment:1]

Price: $20.00

Website Coming Soon

david — Fri, 15 Feb 2008 04:39:55 +0000

Hello, and welcome! The launching of my new website with examples of my classical compositions, and other information is almost ready to launch. Please check back because it should be ready by the first week of March 2008. Thanks for your patience. Please contact me if you would like to be notified when the site launches.

This site will focus mainly on my compositions and arrangements but will also have some information on my performances. Sound files, video, sample PDFs of the printed music, and purchase/contact information will be listed.

Instrumental and choral works will be offered including a new work commissioned for the Amarillo High School Bel Canto Chorale Men for the 2008 TMEA performance, a commissioned work for the Amarillo Civic Chorus and Orchestra, numerous pieces for Shepherd's Trio, and more.