Today we’d like to introduce you to BRYAN ENGLISH.
Hi BRYAN, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
I’m a symphonic pops orchestra conductor. I studied music at UNT, then I started writing for the “How It Should Have Ended” series on the Starz Network (now on YouTube). It was basically film scoring and producing soundtracks in my home studio. I was hired to write orchestral pieces for an Elvis impersonator, which got me into the ‘pops symphony’ business as an arranger in 2008. That was my first of about 15 pops shows that I’ve produced over the years. They are a very wide range of shows: tribute artists, original artists, Led Zeppelin with aerial ballet, Bollywood, Gershwin revue, Broadway highlights, jazz…I love collaborating with vocalists, so all of my shows have at least 1 singer. I enjoy writing and producing them, but conducting has always been my primary focus. Initially I would write the music and then an orchestra would use their own conductor to perform the show, but I’m the conductor for all of my shows now. I get to conduct symphony orchestras all over the world: Buffalo, Detroit, Houston, Phoenix, Lithuania, and many more. Presenting fun shows and engaging the audience on and off stage is a big part of what I enjoy about being a conductor, but it’s very meaningful to meet musicians in a diverse variety of cities and collaborate with them on a performance. My career revolves around two things that I love: people and music – so I’m very grateful!
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
After getting to know the industry as an arranger, it was a challenge to also be a conductor at first. Conducting is a difficult field to break into, and many orchestras prefer to have their own maestro conduct all concerts, so it took a lot of time to build up the trust of the orchestral community. It’s a very cautious network, understandably so – expectations are very high and there is essentially no margin of error. I had to work with several established orchestras in some capacity before earning enough trust to conduct them. It was difficult to sit on the sideline and watch a show that I wrote and produced, but like any industry, you have to pay your dues.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know?
American Family Concerts is my company that offers symphonic pops shows to symphony orchestras and venues around the world. I’ve assembled and produced about 15 shows that are designed to engage and entertain ALL audiences: they are not just for classical music enthusiasts, they are for everyone. Any kind of music can be exciting if it’s presented creatively, and our goal is to use an orchestra and other performers/media to present an entire concert full of music that captivates every concertgoer. I want generations of family members to each enjoy the show in their own way. The music is diverse, the added ‘non-musical’ elements of each show is what really makes it exciting – aerial ballet, virtuoso soloists, singers, costume contests, playing live to videos, dancers, comedy bits. Every time I work on designing a show I ask, “what will make this exciting?” I love music and attending concerts, but when there is extra entertainment beyond the music it’s especially engaging and fun for the audience.
Where do you see things going in the next 5-10 years?
A few years back it was all about tribute shows, and they’re still going strong. Now the trend is “live to film,” where the orchestra plays the soundtrack live to a film while projecting the entire film on a screen above the stage. These are incredibly popular right now, but also very expensive to obtain the rights to show the films. I’m hoping that original films will become a regular part of concerts: independent filmmakers collaborating with songwriters to create videos for each song. It’s like a reverse film soundtrack, where the music comes first and then the video is designed to expand the meaning of the song. It’s an incredibly powerful medium that many pop artists use, and it’s especially captivating with a live orchestra on stage.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.americanfamilyconcerts.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/americanfamilyconcerts
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/studioborchestra
- Youtube: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PL3_VJQ3fM-EbkVqP9BkCT7bx8F72mwMG_&si=qnC9Ek09Ig4E4kXl
Image Credits
3 final “dark room” photos by Shelley Fisher Story
