Andrew Lloyd Webber (born 1948) is a British composer who is best known for his nearly two dozen stage musicals, including Jesus Christ Superstar, Cats, Sunset Boulevard, and The Phantom of the Opera. These and other works have earned the rare EGOT distinction, along with a numerous other awards and honors. He was born and raised in London in a musical family, and he showed early talent in music, as well as an interest in both classic Broadway musicals and contemporary pop and rock music. At age 17, while studying at the Royal College of Music, he met lyricist Tim Rice, with whom he would eventually write Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. This and Jesus Christ Superstar cemented Lloyd Webber’s status as a superstar himself in the early 1970s. He remains a dominant figure on Broadway, with Phantom retaining the distinction of longest running musical – 35 years and counting! He is chronicled all over the internet, with articles at Wikipedia, his own website, Encyclopedia Brittanica, IMDb, Biography.com, PBS, Classic FM, the Songwriters Hall of Fame, and so much more. He also maintains pages at Instagram and Facebook.
The Phantom of the Opera premiered in London’s West End in 1986, with a Broadway debut in 1988. Based on the book of the same name by Gaston Leroux, it tells the story of Christine, a soprano at the Paris Opera who becomes the object of obsession for a mysterious masked figure that lives beneath the opera house. It earned numerous Olivier and Tony awards, and it was adapted for the screen in 2004. It continues to run on Broadway, and is popping up all over the world.
Phantom has spawned several arrangements for band. I will link to all of them that I can find, with priority consideration going to the Warren Barker arrangement that the Catskill Valley Wind Ensemble is playing on our January 2024 pops concert. Here it is in full:
The Barker arrangement uses six songs from the musical. It begins (after an introduction) with “Think of Me”:
Next comes “Angel of Music”:
The musical’s titular number, “The Phantom of the Opera”:
“All I Ask of You”:
“The Point of No Return”:
“The Music of the Night”:
Now the litany of other band versions, listed by arranger, ensemble, and grade level:
Johnnie Vinson, grade 3 flex band:
Johan De Meij, grade 4 concert band:
Michael Sweeney, grade 2 concert band:
Paul Lavender, grade 3 marching band:
Check out J. W. Pepper to get your hands on any of these!