2024 Impact Consortium Pieces
CBDA is proud to parter with two different composers this year in our latest consortium project titled: Music of India for Wind Band.

PIECE 1
Title: Sandhya | An Evening Raga for Concert Band
Composer: Aakash Mittal
Grade Level: 2.5
Duration: 4 min.
Instrumentation: Standard Concert Band
(optional: oboe, bassoon, bass clarinet, bari sax, horn, string bass, tabla)
Buy-In: $150 (due by December 1, 2023)
Delivery: Electronic PDFs (January 31, 2024)
About The Piece:
Sandhya will explore the sounds of the Hindustani (North Indian) raga Poorvi with the colors and instrumentation of the concert band. Rather than imitate the traditional performance format of a Hindustani raga, the piece will incorporate sounds of modern Indian life. The soft ringing textures of bells in Pushkar, Rajasthan and the rhythmic backbeats omnipresent in Kolkata’s night clubs will be interwoven with melodic and harmonic material seeded by raga Poorvi. Sandhya will celebrate the many ways we greet the sunset ranging from Indian pooja rituals, to all night music festivals and the meditative pathos of the evening raga.
Composer’s Works for Winds: https://www.windrep.org/Aakash_Mittal

PIECE 2
Title: Untitled | An Original Work Based On Tamil Music & Culture
Composer: Shruthi Rajasekar
Grade Level: 4
Duration: 5 min.
Instrumentation: Standard Concert Band
Buy-In: $150 (due by December 1, 2023)
Delivery: Electronic PDFs (January 31, 2024)
About the piece:
This original work, yet to be titled, is based on the culture and musical heritage of the Tamil people of Southern India. The Tamil people represent ~6% of modern-day India (concentrated in Tamil Nadu and Puducherry) and sustain their own unique language, religious and cultural practices, and music in the carnatic tradition.

Dr. Kaitlin Bove CBDA DEIA Representative
What is the Social Impact Consortium?
The California Band Director Association Social Impact Consortium is a project launched in 2020 in support of the national Black Lives Matter movement, expanding its scope and mission starting in 2022. At its core, this annual consortium serves three purposes: to commission new wind band repertoire to be premiered by California All State bands at the yearly CASMEC convention in February; to support compositional voices from underrepresented identities in the wind band repertoire; and to create an affordable buy-in consortium opportunity for national and international ensembles for pieces with deeper social meanings. Each year, one or two pieces will be commissioned from a composer (or a pair of composers) based on a social justice topic selected by the composer. Topics are intentionally broad for wide appeal and application and the Social Justice Consortium team works with curriculum developers and experts in relevant fields to build companion curriculum, program notes, and activities to support musician and community engagement with the yearly theme.
Consortium members will receive premiere rights following the world premiere by the selected California All-State ensemble, their institution’s name included in the score, as well as access to in-print and electronic materials including score and set of parts and companion curriculum.
Click here to read all about the 2023 Social Impact Consortium piece that will be premiered at CASMEC 2023!
Find out more at
…And We Were Heard.org