About
If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. I talk about all things in life, but try to focus on my passions of music and design. Please read more about me, if you’re interested. Thanks for visiting!
3…2…1…Contact (me)
For those interested, you can download my curriculum vitae [pdf].
For those interested, but pressed for time, you can download my resume [pdf].
(Curriculum vitae and resume last updated July 2007)
I’m a fun-loving, creative, energetic and spirited composer, designer and musician. I have the temerity to try new things, even when it seems like they’ll never work (surprisingly they often do). From almost the highest roller coasters to stacked tertian harmony, I’m willing to take risks to have a good time. Poker and various and assorted card and board games eat away at my time if I’m not careful. I work freelance and generally alone, so forget about regular weekends, but be prepared for the unexpected at any time (even if it is a little oxymoronic). I do not turn my back on coining new words or overusing old ones in the pursuit of the clearest message. “Simple yet elegant” my friends say, though they’re just as likely to say “did he really just say that?” Loyal to a fault, friendly to a point and sarcastic to the ends, I guarantee to put my most into any situation and expect the best from anyone with whom I work.
Not what you’re expecting? Something more formal, perhaps?
Composer, percussionist and designer Bryan Scott Stanbridge earned a master’s of music in composition and master’s of music in instrumental performance (percussion) from Bowling Green State University. While at the university, he studied with Elainie Lillios, Marilyn Shrude, Burton Beerman, Michael Sander and Roger Schupp. He earned a bachelor’s of music in performance from Eastern Michigan University where he studied with Anthony Iannaccone and John Dorsey.
Morton Feldman, Alfred Schnittke, Aaron Copland and other mid-century American composers have been influential to Stanbridge’s writing. He writes both acoustic and electroacoustic music for small or large ensembles. Recently, he has focused on writing music for voice, often on sacred themes, including two settings of the Catholic Mass (one in English, the other in Latin). Two song cycles, Seven Songs of Longing on original texts and Five Songs of Love on texts by Sara Teasdale, were completed in late 2006 and early 2007. He is currently writing a marimba concerto, finishing his Latin Mass and collaborating on an opera with friend and colleague, Noah D. Taylor as well as writing other, smaller pieces.
Not content to sit back and watch others play his music, Stanbridge is also active as a performer, both in ensembles and as a soloist. He plays with orchestras in northwest Ohio and southeast Michigan. He has been principal percussionist with the Perrysburg and Detroit Symphony Civic orchestras, and played with the Dearborn, Firelands and Lima symphony orchestras. He serves as the artistic director of the Purple Frog Players, a contemporary music ensemble. He endorses Planet Marimba, the company that designed and built his rare, six-octave marimba, and Pro-Mark, makers of high-quality sticks and mallets. He is a proud member of ASCAP, AFM and PAS.
As a firm believer in music education, Stanbridge also teaches percussion ensemble and marching percussion at local high schools. He served as assistant director of bands at North Farmington High School and is currently the director of percussion at Edsel Ford High School in Dearborn, Mich., where he directs the Marching Thunderbird drumline and percussion ensemble and writes music for both groups. He was recently appointed to the adjunct faculty at Bowling Green State University as steel drums coordinator and teaches ensembles in the College of Musical Arts as well as private percussion and steel drum lessons.
When not focusing on his musical endeavors, Stanbridge has designed and programmed web sites and computer games. Some of his past work includes The Arena Online Game, Samuel Adler and Emily Freeman Brown’s personal web sites, and Purple Frog Press, his music publishing and design company. He is also under contract with the College of Musical Arts at Bowling Green State University to provide web site design, maintenance and programming. His games were primarily written as BBS doors or in-game modules for other doors and are rarely in circulation today.
