Well-known
local musician Rex Mitchell can conjure up a jazz composition or an
orchestra piece in no time at all.
What comes
next — waiting up to two years for his handwritten manuscript to morph
into printed and published sheet music — has driven him to distraction,
though.
“I got tired
of waiting two years to hear from a publisher — most of who don’t compose
or arrange — so I got inpatient. I like to keep things moving,” said the
78-year-old retired chairman of the Clarion University music department.
Since selling
his first composition in the mid-1960s, the Rockmere resident has had
“between 50 and 60 pieces” published by music printing companies.
Most of them
have been commissioned by clients as varied as high schools, churches,
community symphonies, all-state school competitions, bands, universities
and others. While most are tailored for band performances, several works
are aimed specifically for orchestras.
The lag time,
though, between composition and publication was making Mitchell restless.
That has
prompted him to skip a step in the publishing business and, as he puts it,
“embark on a new part of my career.”
“I’m taking a
new approach and doing my own manuscripts. I wrote the piece and it’s
important to me. And, others might as well have access to it,” Mitchell
said.
Each of the
copyrighted works has been stirred into a new project known as “The
Manuscript Series” which features 10 previously unpublished works. The
music scores are unique in two ways —they are original compositions and
they are handwritten.
“I can’t
imagine anyone else is producing manuscripts in their own handwriting,”
Mitchell said with a smile.
To the other
extreme, Mitchell is also going hi-tech by adding the new series to his
Web site — http://digitaldrawers.com/RexMitchell — that features a
directory of compositions, background information and short sound clips.
“I don’t
compose on the computer, though. I write (a new composition) out of my
head with no instruments,” said Mitchell, who earned a doctorate in music
education degree at Penn State.
Coincidentally, the musician’s foray into a new venture comes at a time
when one of his musical scores will hit a milestone.
“My publisher
called to tell me one of my pieces, “Introduction and Fantasia,” will be
played by a California band on April 24 at Carnegie Hall, New York City.
Carnegie Hall — that’s a first for me!” Mitchell said.