Composers

We love working with different composers and arrangers at any level or genre. If you would like to collaborate and/or volunteer your services to our group, please contact us .


Nick Halsey , BCP's Resident Composer & Web Development Consultant
Nick Halsey has played both the cello and the trumpet for eight years and is an avid composer and arranger. His cello ensemble, Cello Expressions, has allowed him to develop and refine many works written and arranged for cellos and he has compiled a large library of free cello ensemble sheet music on his website. Nick is studying Civil Engineering, Architecture, and Music Composition at the University of Southern California, and also works as Web Developer, having authored several Wordpress Plugins and websites.
To learn more about Nick and Cello Expressions, visit his website at www.CelloExpressions.com or select an icon below his photo.

Select the button below to view videos of arrangements created by Nick.
Dr. Marcelo Sanches , Composer
Dr. Sanches is a teacher, performer, composer and researcher. He is a faculty member of Flatirons Strings Academy, and has a private cello studio in Boulder, Colorado. Hailing from São Paulo, Brazil, he pursued his bachelor’s degree at Oberlin College, studying cello with Peter Rejto and composition with Randolph Coleman and Richard Hoffmann. Dr. Sanches finished his doctorate and master’s degrees at the University of Colorado at Boulder, where he was Prof. Judith Glyde’s teaching assistant for six years. He is principal of the Greeley Philharmonic Orchestra, assistant principal of the Boulder Philharmonic Orchestra, and plays with Opera Colorado and the Colorado Symphony Orchestra, among others. One of Dr. Sanches greatest passions is writing and arranging music to fit the needs of his students, and future projects include the publication of didactic cello literature. Strings Magazine has published one of his articles on how to write your own cello étude, and his paper on Ginastera’s palindromes won the Fiske Writing Award this year. Additionally, he has performed extensively in South India, and founded and directed the Auroville Instrumental Ensemble and collaborated in the recording of a Carnatic-style music-therapy album in Chennai.

Select the button below to view videos of arrangements created by Marcelo:
David Johnstone , Composer
David Johnstone is considered one of the most creative and interesting string players in the Iberian peninsula today, combining a career as a wide-ranging cellist with composition. He shows a great versatility which enables him to work and participate in many, and very varied musical activities. British by birth, and trained in the Royal Academy of Music, London, he worked in orchestras such as the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra of London, London Concert Orchestra and the English String Orchestra. He has, for well over a decade, been principal cellist of the ‘Orquesta Sinfónica de Navarra’ of Spain, and is cellist of the trio ‘B3 Classic’. As soloist he has given performances of most of the ‘great’ cello concertos with orchestra. He holds dual British-Spanish nationality.
He is a composer with a specialization for string instruments and/or lighter classical musical writing. His original compositions include ‘The Four Seasons’ for Solo Violin and String Orchestra, a Pop-Classic Cello Concerto, an Accordion concerto, a Double Concertante for Solo Violin - solo Cello and orchestra, many individual String Quartet pieces based on European regions, and a great number of works for the Accordion repertoire (especially for the medium-level students).  He also specializes in writing String Orchestral pieces that are well within the capabilities of youth and conservatoire orchestras. Within the cello world, his manual ‘Cadenzas and Cadences’, and the great variety of published ‘well playable’ virtuoso solo cello pieces, are considered some of the most valuable contemporary contributions in this field.

But from his teenage days he has loved the feeling of the unique comradeship of cello ensembles, and is always happy to join in ‘just for fun’! His web - www.johnstone-music.com - includes many of his transcriptions for free (solo cello, recital, cello and orchestra, ensemble music for 2 up to 40 cellists!, specific ‘easy’ cello music), and articles for free downloading, as well as a unique directory-library with career details, dedications, first performances and anecdotes of over 600 famous historical cellists in chronological order. String orchestras, cello sections and prominent individuals from the Philadelphia Orchestra, the Basque National Orchestra, the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, Orquesta Nacional de España, Orquesta Nacional de Argentina, New Jersey Symphony and a large etc. have been playing both his original works and his multi-cello arrangements. There are many interpretations of his arrangements in ‘YouTube’ played by amateur and student ensembles, which to him are equally as welcome as those ‘super-professional’ performances!!
Select the button below to view videos of arrangements created by David:
Dennis B. Neff , Composer
Dennis B. Neff has been playing with fiddle, folk and gospel groups in Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas for the past 50 years.  Dennis is a multi-instrumentalist who teaches privately and promotes string orchestra music through his work with music camps and teachers in Colorado, Kansas, Missouri, Oklahoma and Arkansas.  He has string orchestra scores published by the Neil A. Kjos Music Company of San Diego, California.  His arrangements transition folk, fiddle and gospel songs into more classic four-part cello ensemble and string orchestra pieces suitable for school music programs.

Dennis’ arrangements typically include close harmonies that are commonplace in twin fiddling and strong counter-melodies that are prevalent in strolling strings arrangements.
Dennis writes original music and teaching pieces for his harmony workshops that are presented at the Jana Jae Fiddle Camp in Grove, Oklahoma.  Dennis also supports three cello groups with custom arrangements and develops new pieces each year for the Tulsa Symphony Summer Fiddle Camp.  His latest four music books include folk, fiddle, gospel and Christmas music in a seven-part harmony format.

Dennis graduated with honors from Emporia State University in Kansas where in 1973 he received a B.S.E. degree in Physical Science and Mathematics, and an M.S. in Physical Science in 1977.  After an initial career as a High School teacher, he moved on to the oil industry and retired in 2002 after a successful career in which he received 25 U.S. Patents and numerous awards.  Dennis resides in Grove, Oklahoma but spends his summers in Estes Park, Colorado where he devotes much of his retirement time to arranging music.
Select the button below to view videos of arrangements created by Dennis:

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