Read about and listen to Brendan McMullin's compositions.
Brendan McMullin was born on December 6th, 1977 in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, however he has lived in the Los Angeles area for most of his life. As a child he was exposed to classical music and taught piano by his mother, Gayle McMullin. He was then assigned to play trombone by his junior high school band director, Mitch Schuster, at the age of 11, even though his first three choices of instruments were saxophone, bassoon, and oboe. Two years later he was accepted into the SCSBOA Southern California Junior High School Honor Orchestra.
Throughout middle school and high school Brendan studied trombone privately with John Dane and Debbie Boltinghouse. In his high school career he played lead trombone in the Conejo Valley Youth Symphony, was lead trombone in the Ventura County Honor Band three years in a row, and began performing with the Lane 29 Jazz Orchestra lead by Mike Gangemi. He even substituted for the trombone player in his high school band director's, Larry Elginer's, brass quintet The Ojai Brass. In his senior year of high school, he earned the lead trombone chair in the SCSBOA Southern California High School Honor Orchestra.
At Simi Valley High School's Year End Band Concert during his junior year of high school, Brendan conducted his first composition, Variations on Hava Nagila for saxophone quartet. He continued writing, performing his Sonata for Trombone and Piano at the Year End Concert during his senior year.
After graduating from Simi Valley High School in 1995, Brendan immediately began attending college at California State University, Northridge. He has studied trombone with Bill Booth , Alex Iles, and Ira Nepus; voice with Diane Ketchie and Paul Smith ; conducting with David Whitwell, Gary Pratt , and Paul Smith ; and composition with Daniel Kessner , Mark Bobak, and Matt Harris . He performed with the CSU Northridge Wind Ensemble, Symphony Orchestra, Jazz "A" and "B" Bands, Jazz Combos, Trombone Ensemble, Brass Ensemble, Northridge Singers, and Opera. He also participated in the Pacific Symphony Institute Orchestra during the 1996-1997 season and the Idyllwild Arts Festival Wind Ensemble in the summer of 1997. His pieces Symphony for Wind Ensemble , Big Time Concert Piece for Brass Ensemble , Well You Needn't (big band arrangement of the Thelonius Monk tune), Beauty Is Only a Light Switch Away , Freon Funk , and Fanfare for the Common Pratt were performed under his direction at concerts and festivals by the CSU Northridge Wind Ensemble, Brass Ensemble, Symphony Orchestra Brass Section, Jazz Combos, Jazz A Band, and Jazz B Band. In 2004 Brendan began attending the University of California, Los Angeles. He studied composition with Ian Krouse, David Lefkowitz, Roger Bourland, and Bruce Broughton. He also performed in the UCLA Trombone Ensemble and Jazz Combos.
Brendan currently plays trombone, sings, conducts, and composes professionally in the Los Angeles Area and abroad. Some of his trombone playing credits include the 2004 Academy Awards onstage performance of Belleville Rendezvous from The Triplets of Belleville , The Valley Brass Quintet , The Northridge Brass Quintet , Conejo Players , Cabrillo Musical Theater , Speak Easy Spies, Art Slade Swing Band, Ron Bartley Swing Band, Palmdale Theater, Soul Power, Dave Pier Big Band, Millenium Show with drummer Duffy Jackson , San Fernando Valley Symphony , Rembrandt , Romsumba, Gold Coast Wind Ensemble , The Fallwater Project , Hector Contreras and His Latin Jazz Ensemble , the Buzz Maddux Octet, etc... His singing credits include performances with the Paul Smith Singers at the 2002 season ending concerts at the Hollywood Bowl alongside the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra, a performance for a Democratic Party fundraiser at the Kodak Theater alongside Barry Manilow and Barbara Streisand, performing in the "Choir of the World" at the International Eisteddfodd in Llangollen, Wales, and the recording of the Eric Whitacre opera Paradise Lost: Opera Electronica . He has conducted groups such as the CSU Northridge Wind Ensemble and Studio Jazz Band, the Northridge Brass Ensemble, the Brendan McMullin Big Band, and the Moorpark College Studio Jazz Band. Along with performances by CSU Northridge Ensembles, his compositions have been performed by such groups as The Northridge Brass Quintet , Santa Barbara City College Jazz Band , The Lane 29 Orchestra , Brendan McMullin Big Band, UCLA Jazz Combos, the Kiev Philharmonic, etc...
In the summer of 2000 Brendan was chosen to participate as a composer for the Henry Mancini Institute under the ASCAP Scholarship in honor of Burt Bacharach. During this four week workshop he studied composition with Jack Smalley, Thomas Oboe Lee , Manny Albam , Michael Abene , John Clayton , and Bill Kirchner . His piece Why You Gotta Be Like That (Jazz Overture for Full Orchestra) was performed by the Henry Mancini Institute Orchestra in a concert that also featured such artists as Bud Shank, Michael Lang, Manny Albam, Brad Dechter, and Jerry Goldsmith. This composition received a positive review in the Calendar section of the Los Angeles Times.
Brendan's composition Why You Gotta Be Like That (Jazz Overture for Full Orchestra) was recently recorded by the Kiev Philharmonic in the Ukraine and is featured on the album " Masterworks of the New Era (Vol. 12) ." The album was released in June 2008 and is available at most music retailers and music download websites. Click here to purchase the CD at Amazon. Click here to purchase the CD at Target. Click here to download the mp3. Click here to listen to free Mp3 excerpts.
Brendan recently arranged for and played trombone on a latin jazz album called "Hector Contreras & His Latin Jazz Ensemble." It has received a lot of radio play abroad. Hector has been nominated Composer of the Month by Pietro - www.vinilemania.net and in the top 10 international artists by Mike Bongard (Maikito) of Ottawa, Canada, also 2 artist in Bogota, Colombia (D.J. Sanntos). The CD is available for sale at http://www.emiliesgarden.com and http://cdbaby.com/cd/hectorcontreras .
Brendan has also worked as a music teacher and clinician at the elementary, secondary, and university level in the Los Angeles Area. He has taught trombone, trumpet, euphonium, tuba, saxophone, clarinet, and piano privately for many years. He has given clinics to the brass sections at Simi Valley High School, Westlake High School, Moorpark High School, and Walter Reed Middle School. He has worked with the San Fernando Valley Cultural Center presenting music assemblies to dozens of San Fernando Valley elementary schools. He has worked as jazz band director at Royal High School; as band director at Oak Hills Elementary School, Ascension Lutheran School, and St. Paschal Baylon School; as band director, choir director, and general music teacher at Mesa Verde Middle School; and as band director at Wilson Middle School, Washington Middle School, Cleveland Elementary School, and Altadena Elementary School in Pasadena. He has also taught "Brass Methods" for Music Education majors at California State University, Northridge. He currently teaches instrumental music, music theory, and music appreciation at Pacific Hills School in West Hollywood by day and directs the Studio Jazz Band, teaches Music Theory, and teaches trombone at Moorpark College by night.
Brendan graduated from CSU Northridge in the Summer of 2002 with a Bachelor's Degree in Music Composition. He earned his California Teaching Credential from CSU Northridge in Spring 2004. He also earned his Master's Degree in Music Composition at the University of California, Los Angeles in the Summer of 2008.
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