Robert Thurston - Composer / Arranger
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My Music
These band pieces are
published by Carl Fischer:
* Fantasia for a King (2002)
Variations on "Good King Wenceslas," grade 4
* The Flight of the Falcon (2003)
A
contest/concert piece, grade 3-4
* Festive Dances (2001)
A three movement suite, grade 2-3
* Under the Double Eagle (2006)
J.F. Wagner's classic march, arranged for smaller concert bands, grade 3
* Ascendance (2002), a
A
contest/concert piece, grade 3-4
* Frontier (2005)
A
contest/concert piece, grade 3-4
* Songs of the West (2003)
A rhapsodic treatment of "Cindy" and "Streets of Laredo" for middle-school band, grade 2
* Uprising (2003)
A
fun piece in minor mode for middle school band, grade 2
* Gates of Freedom (2001)
A
march for beginning bands, grade 1
Ask me about these unpublished works:
* Mysterious Presence (2006)
A grade 4 chorale prelude, mournful but ultimately uplifting, based on the hymn Father, In Thy Mysterious Presence Kneeling. Written in memory of my beloved nephew, Jonathan Barch
* Across the Clouds (2006)
A
grade 4 allegro in song form, for solo euphonium and band. Written for Will Jones of the U.S. Air Force Band and premiered at the U.S. Army Band Tuba-Euphonium Conference in January 2006
* The Front Page (2005)
A
grade 4 concert march commissioned by the Tallahassee Winds and the Tallahassee Democrat to celebrate that newspaper's 100th year
* Three Yuletide Evergreens (2005)
A
setting of O Little Town of Bethlehem, Away In a Manger and Joy to the World for band and chorus, published by Masters Music Publications.
In addition to my own compositions, I have had the privilege of writing arrangements for a variety of artists, covering a range of musical styles.
My arrangement of Happy Xmas (War Is Over), written with ukulele virtuoso Jake Shimabukuro for him and Yo-Yo Ma, appears on Yo-Yo's CD Songs of Joy & Peace (it's track #21).
I've also written recently for the fabulous Texas-based Celtic rock band The Rogues, the Empire Brass quintet, country-pop supergroup Restless Heart, R&B diva Patti LaBelle, country superstars Sara Evans and Clint Black and Lee Greenwood, long-time Count Basie Orchestra drummer Butch Miles, and the delightful Joni James, who had several million-selling hits in the 1950s.
Over the years the list has also included Lee Ann Womack, Wynonna, Mark Wills and Roy Clark; Chaka Kahn, Kool and the Gang, The Miracles, Freda Payne, Rita Coolidge, and The Ventures; Spyro Gyra, George Duke, Kirk Whalum, Eric Marienthal, Keiko Matsui and Big Bad Voodoo Daddy; Ben Vereen, Melba Moore, Gloria Loring, Leslie Uggams and the late Nell Carter; Harolyn Blackwell and Simon Estes; and the String Trio of New York.
I also write for my two favorite marching bands in the world. I have written regularly for the Florida State University Marching Chiefs since 1981; and for the Pickerington Central High School Marching Band in Pickerington, Ohio (near Columbus), since 1986. Many other groups have played my music. I don’t do as much freelance arranging as I used to, but I haven’t given it up.
Short Bio
Robert Thurston (b. 1959), a native of Tallahassee, Florida, received bachelor's and master’s degrees in music education from Florida State University, where he studied arranging and composition with Charles Carter and William Peterson. He has also studied with Michael Davis. He has lived in Northern Virginia since 1994. Before that, he taught high-school bands for five years in Orlando, Florida, and Columbus, Ohio.
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More About Me
You can read about my music in the box to the left. All of my major work the past couple of years has been for my day job, and getting it out into the larger world is tricky.
The coolest thing I've done lately? Earlier this year the amazing ukulele god Jake Shimabukuro invited me to write a cello accompaniment for a duet between him and Yo-Yo Ma on the classic John Lennon Christmas anthem Happy Xmas (War Is Over). It's track 21 on Yo-Yo's new CD, Songs of Joy & Peace.
I majored in music education at Florida State University, but I also studied composition and arranging there with Charles Carter (you might know his Overture for Winds) and Bill Peterson. I've also studied with Michael Davis, former chief composer-arranger for the U.S. Air Force Band. I played percussion in several ensembles at FSU, and I was a member of the FSU Marching Chiefs, for whom I still write arrangements every year.
I taught band from 1987 to 1991 at Oak Ridge High School in Orlando, Florida, and from 1992 to 1993 at Liberty Union-Thurston Local Schools in Baltimore, Ohio (near Pickerington). (I like to say that last job had my name all over it <rimshot>, but I'm not related to the namesake of Thurston, Ohio.)
From 1981 to 1984 I worked for the Tallahassee Democrat newspaper. My dad was a fifth-generation journalist, and for a time I took up that legacy. I love to write, but only as a hobby now. My younger sister represents the sixth generation.
I was born and raised in Tallahassee. My family, my heart and my address of record are still there.
I know it sounds strange, but if you put a blurb about me in your band's concert program, please don't mention my day job (assuming you know what it is). Personally, I wouldn't mind - it's not an "If I told you, I would have to kill you" kind of thing - but my employer is serious about it. Thanks!
And just so my employer knows I'm serious too: This website is not affiliated with the United States Department of Defense. I am solely responsible for the content here, and I do not intend for it, nor should it be construed, to represent any concern of the United States government.
(Same goes for Florida State University, Pickerington Local Schools, Liberty Union-Thurston Local Schools, Orange County Public Schools, the Tallahassee Democrat, Publix Supermarkets, Burger King, or the long-defunct Nelson Music Inc. and Cinema Twin Theatres. Plus my yard sales.)