Isla de Coco - for Concert Band (2022)
Isla de Coco - for Concert Band (2022)
Difficulty: Easy - Ideal for middle school ensembles (Grade 2.5)
Duration: c. 3’47”
This piece was commissioned in consortium by these wonderful programs:
Jefferson Middle School; San Antonio, Texas
Sierra Vista Middle School; La Puente, California
Rock Valley Middle School; Rock Valley, Iowa
Garcia Middle School; San Antonio, Texas
This fun, Latin-inspired piece for middle school band is a great opportunity to showcase these instruments and the style for any ensemble. Isla de Coco is full of color and energy, with does away with the typical percussion trio of snare drum, bass drum, and crash cymbals, and instead utilizes conga drums, bongos, and cabasa as its core percussion sound.
This piece features a key change from F major to Bb major.
Score and parts are 9x12 PDFs that can be scaled and printed to 8.5x11 and will be delivered digitally.
Listen to Isla de Coco:
Instrumentation
Flute 1 and 2
Oboe
Bassoon
Clarinet in Bb 1 and 2
Bass Clarinet
Alto Saxophone
Tenor Saxophone
Baritone Saxophone
Trumpet in Bb 1 and 2
Horn in F
Trombone
Euphonium B.C.
Tuba
Timpani
Glockenspiel
Wood Blocks (two pitches)
Bongos
Congas
Cabasa
Triangle
Program Notes
I was recently on vacation at an island off the coast of Honduras, with beautiful white-sand beaches and clear-blue water. At the beach, merchants walk up and down selling coconuts that they could open up for you with a machete, then drop in a straw to consume the yummy coconut water. The atmosphere was so inspiring, I decided to write a piece in honor of this beautiful place. “Isla de Coco” means “coconut island” in Spanish, and this piece characterizes the fun of being at a beach in the Caribbean.
Watch the behind-the-scenes creation of this piece:
