Music for Concert Ensembles
Full Catalog
Four Works to be performed at the 2025 Midwest Clinic in Chicago!
Inspirare (world premiere)
Vista Ridge HS Band, Dir. Robert Herrings | Cedar Park, TX
Grade 3.5 / 5:00′ / 2025
Light It Up! A Hard Rock Hanukkah (world premiere)
Leander MS Band, Dir. Liz Love | Leander, TX
Grade 2 / 2:30′ / 2025
A Simple Song at Sunrise, by Robert W. Smith (setting by Evan VanDoren)
Canyon Ridge MS Band, Dir. Amy Allison-Rivera | Austin, TX
Grade 3 / 2:30′ / 2024
Jingle Jam
Canyon Ridge MS Band, Dir. Amy Allison-Rivera | Austin, TX
Grade 2 / 2:30′ / 2024
Wind Ensemble & Concert Band
Luminosities
Grade 5.5 / 2:30′ / 2023 / Selected to Texas UIL PML
Stanton’s 5-Star Feature Award
2nd Place: 2025 American Prize in Composition
Horizons Untold (fanfare for wind band)
Grade 5 / 2′ / 2023
JWPepper Editors’ Choice Award 2023
Vienna Philharmonic Fanfare (coming soon!)
Richard Strauss, arr. Evan VanDoren
Grade 5 / 2:30′ / 2025
*For Wind Ensemble or Brass Only
Finale, from Symphony No. 3 (Organ)
Camille Saint-Saëns, transc. Evan VanDoren
Grade 5 / 8′ / 2022 / Selected to Texas UIL PML
March to the Scaffold, from Symphony Fantastique
Hector Berlioz, transc. Evan VanDoren
Grade 5 / 5′ / 2021
Light the Menorah!
Grade 4 / 5’30” / 2024
Prophetic Dances
Grade 4 / 6’30” / 2024 / Selected to Texas UIL PML
ABC-Bandworld-WIBC Top 100 Award, 2024
Finalist: 2025 American Prize in Composition
Funeral March of a Marionette
Charles Gounod, transc. Evan VanDoren
Grade 4 / 4′ / 2023
ABC-Bandworld-WIBC Top 100 Award, 2023
Inspirare (coming soon!)
Grade 3.5 / 5:00′ / 2025
Fanfare for the Festival of Lights
Grade 3.5 / 2’30” / 2022
JWPepper Editors’ Choice Award 2022
ABC-Bandworld-WIBC Top 100 Award, 2022
Stanton’s 5-Star Feature Award
A Simple Song at Sunrise
Robert W. Smith, setting by Evan VanDoren
Grade 3 / 2’30” / 2025
JWPepper Editors’ Choice Award 2025
She Loves the Light
Grade 3 / 5’30” / 2023 / Selected to Texas UIL PML
Not So Silent Night
Grade 3 / 4’30” / 2023
JWPepper Editors’ Choice Award 2023
Stanton’s 5-Star Feature Award
Infernal Galop, from Orpheus in the Underworld
Jaques Offenbach, arr. Evan VanDoren
Grade 3 / 2’30” / 2019
also available in adaptive/flex scoring here!
Battle Volcano
Grade 2.5 / 2′ / 2023
JWPepper Editors’ Choice Award 2023
Fanfare for a New Day
Grade 2.5 / 2′ / 2021
JWPepper Editors’ Choice Award 2021
Stanton’s 5-Star Feature Award
Light It Up! A Hard Rock Hanukkah (coming soon!)
Grade 2 / 2:30′ / 2025
Adventure Awaits
Grade 2 / 2’30” / 2022
JWPepper Editors’ Choice Award 2022
Stanton’s 5-Star Feature Award
Into Battle!
Grade 2 / 2′ / 2021
JWPepper Editors’ Choice Award 2021
Stanton’s 5-Star Feature Award
Jingle Jam
Grade 2 / 2’30” / 2024
JWPepper Editors’ Choice Award 2024
Stanton’s 5-Star Feature Award
We Belong
Grade 2 / 3’30” / 2025
JWPepper Editors’ Choice Award 2025
With Gratitude
Grade 2 / 4’30” / 2025
To Dare Greatly
Grade 1.5 / 1’30” / 2023
JWPepper Editors’ Choice Award 2023
La Noche de los Alebrijes
Grade 1 / 2′ / 2022
What Lurks in the Shadows
Grade 1 / 2′ / 2024
Ho-Ho-Ho, Cha-Cha-Cha!
Grade 0.5 / 1’30” / 2025
Available for commissions!
Evan is a versatile musician who consistently embraces fresh and challenging new projects. With expertise in concert band music, Evan regularly delivers outstanding compositions for ensembles of all grade levels. Collaborating with Evan is a delightful and effortless experience! Reach out to him today to discuss commissioning a new work for your school or organization!
We were fortunate to have Evan compose a custom tuba feature for our 2023 Honor Band concert at TMEA. We received the perfect piece for our ensemble, delivered in record time! Prior to writing, Evan took a big interest in truly understanding our needs, the strengths and weaknesses of the ensemble, and the overall aesthetic we desired. If you’re in question about whether Evan is the one you should hire for your next commission, the answer is YES!
Symphonic Band Music
Recent Works Awarded JWPepper’s Editor’s Choice!
Works for Concert Band & Wind Ensemble
Horizons Untold (fanfare for wind band)
Grade 5 / 2′ / 2023
A Simple Song at Sunrise
Robert W. Smith, setting by Evan VanDoren
Grade 3 / 2’30” / 2025
Not So Silent Night
Grade 3 / 4’30” / 2023
Battle Volcano
Grade 2.5 / 2′ / 2023
We Belong
Grade 2 / 3’30” / 2025
Jingle Jam
Grade 2 / 2’30” / 2024
To Dare Greatly
Grade 1.5 / 1’30” / 2023
Works for String Orchestra
Adventure Awaits
Grade 3 / 2′ / 2023
String Orchestra
Adventure Awaits
Grade 3 / 2′ / 2023
JWPepper’s Editor’s Choice for 2023
Kraken
Grade 2 / 1’30” / 2023
Fanfare for the Festival of Lights
Grade 3.5 / 2’30” / 2024
Full Orchestra
Fanfare for the Festival of Lights
Grade 3.5 / 2’30” / 2025
Chamber Ensemble
Nimrod, from Enigma Variations (brass ensemble)
Edward Elgar, arr. Evan VanDoren
Grade 6 / 4′ / 2023
Finale, from Enigma Variations (brass ensemble)
Edward Elgar, arr. Evan VanDoren
Grade 6 / 6′ / 2023
A Beatles Fantasy (for seven trumpets)
Part 1, Part 2, Part 3
Featuring the music of The Beatles, arr. Evan VanDoren
Grade 5 / 7’30” / 2023
Scheherazade, for trumpet octet
Nicolai Rimsky Korsakov, arr. Evan VanDoren
Grade 5 / 7’30” / 2024
Finlandia (brass quintet)
Jean Sibelius, arr. Evan VanDoren
Grade 5 / 4’30” / 2020
Allegretto, from Symphony No. 7 (brass ensemble)
Ludwig von Beethoven, arr. Evan VanDoren
Grade 4 / 2’30” / 2022
Farandole, from L’Arlésienne Suite No. 2 (brass ensemble)
Georges Bizet, arr. Evan VanDoren
Grade 4 / 3′ / 2020
The Barber of Seville, suite for woodwind ensemble
Gioachino Rossini, arr. Evan VanDoren
Grade 4 / 2022
1. Prelude, 2’30”
2. Scene, 2’30”
3. Finale, 3’30”
movements available separately
Maria durch ein Dornwald ging (trombone octet)
Traditional, arr. Stefan Claas, setting by Evan VanDoren
Grade 3 / 2′ / 2023
Selections on the Texas Prescribed Music List!
Luminosities
Grade 5 / 2:30′ / 2023
Finale, from Symphony No. 3 (Organ)
Camille Saint-Saëns, transc. Evan VanDoren
Grade 5 / 8′ / 2022
Prophetic Dances
Grade 4 / 6’30” / 2024
She Loves the Light
Grade 3 / 5’30” / 2023
You MUST program Evan VanDoren’s concert band music for your next fall, winter, spring, and/or region band concert! His music is brilliantly written and SO accessible to students – my kids loved playing every piece we have done of his so far. I can’t wait for him to write more for every level!
Concert Band Music for Young Ensembles
Evan VanDoren is an in-demand music composer regularly commissioned to create engaging & award-winning music for marching bands and concert ensembles at all skill levels. Evan’s music is regularly performed around the country, including premiere performances at the Texas Music Educators Association Convention and the Midwest Band and Orchestra Clinic. In 2025, Evan was recognized as a National Finalist for The American Prize in Composition for his works, Luminosities & Prophetic Dances.
Evan serves as the brass composer & arranger for the Santa Clara Vanguard Drum and Bugle Corps, based in Santa Clara, California. Additionally, Evan is an active clinician and has presented for Drum Corps International, the Music Educators National Convention, the Texas Bandmasters Association, the Texas Music Educators Association, and Music for All. He regularly consults with music programs nationwide.
Before devoting his life to creating music, Evan was a band director at Cedar Park High School in Cedar Park, Texas. During that time, the band was awarded multiple marching state championships and national recognition. He received a Bachelor's in Music Education with Honors from Butler University in Indianapolis, Indiana. Currently, he lives in Cedar Park, Texas, with his wife, Katie, daughters Anna & Sara, and their dog, Cooper.
Solo with Large Ensemble
You’ll Never Walk Alone (solo trumpet with band)
Rodgers & Hammerstein, arr. Chris Walden, setting by Evan VanDoren
Grade 4 / 4’30” / 2021
Bugler’s Duel (trumpet duet with band)
inspired by Bugler’s Holiday, by Leroy Anderson, arr. Evan VanDoren
Grade 4 / 4′ / 2021
Two-ba Two-step (tuba duet with band)
Grade 2 / 2’30” / 2023
Chamber Music Repertoire
Evan is proud to be represented by…
The Fastest Way to Make Your Band Sound Better
It's that time of year. Your first football game is behind you. Your first contest is around the corner. You can perform a good two thirds of your show without anyone running into each other. Things are on track! There's just one problem. Now things have...
Let your students take risks!
I had the pleasure to chat with John Denis, Assistant Professor of Music Education at Texas State University. He has a real passion for helping young teachers be successful, and as such, not only does he mentor some of the brightest young students entering the teaching profession, but has taken to the podcasting community to reach a wider audience!
“Program Notes: The Beginning Band Director Podcast” isn’t just for directors of the beginning band (6th Grade), nor is it for purely new to the profession teachers. His podcast site is chock-full of awesome information and thoughtful interviews on a variety of subjects that might be the very thing you need to climb over whatever teaching “wall” is currently in front of you!
In Part 1 of this multi-part podcast, we cover a few topics, including the basics of how to learn drill, and creating an environment where your students are willing to take risks for the sake of their own improvement, among other side-topics and “rabbit trails”. I had a great time chatting with John, and I hope you’ll have a good time listening in!
7 Strategies to Upgrade Your Marching Band’s Performance
Introduction When it comes to marching band shows, there are several basic concepts that every band program should focus on. In this blog post, we will explore these fundamental concepts and how they contribute to the overall success of a marching band performance. So...
Ready to join forces for successful collaboration? Let’s work together!