Music education and music with concentrations in performance and composition
Six of Troyer's Christmas arrangements were published in 2011 by BRS Music.
"Ever since I started studying with Peter, I thought about getting something published,"
says Troyer, who began writing music as a junior at Garaway High School. But he didn't
consider submitting the saxophone trio pieces initially, even though Dr. Adam Schattschneider,
professor of music and Troyer's saxophone instructor, suggested that he try.
"I don't think I seriously considered it," Troyer says, "until Peter showed me the
publishing company, which in March 2011 was seeking saxophone trio music for publication."
"When I saw that BRS was soliciting scores for saxophone trio, I felt like he would
have a pretty good chance," says Terry, recalling that "Scott's arrangements struck
me as being publishable when I first heard them. They are well written and technically
accessible for a mix of performers from high school through professional players,
and are for an ensemble that is often overlooked."
Terry and Schattschneider were instrumental in preparing the pieces, which were recorded
in Yoder Recital Hall in April by the trio of Troyer, Schattschneider and Kitanya
Murray, who graduated in 2012. Fellow Bluffton student Jonathan Luginbill served as
recording engineer.
One factor in Troyer's success "was being able to rehearse and make adjustments to
his arrangements as he worked on them," notes Schattschneider. "We spent several hours
working on his trios before Christmas, and at rehearsals we experimented with several
different options. Scott made several changes through this process that were incorporated
into the published arrangements."
"After coming to Bluffton, I learned more about what goes into a good piece of music,"
adds Troyer, who is leaning toward pursuing a graduate program in either musicology
or music theory.
"The fact that he didn't get rejected on his first try is a major reflection on the
quality of his work," Terry says. "Scott pursued every aspect of this project with
professionalism. This was really a model of how to approach a professional music career,
and it paid off."
