Today we’d like to introduce you to Evan VanDoren.
Hi Evan, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
I spent nine years as a band director at Cedar Park High School before going full-time as a composer and arranger. It wasn’t a dramatic leap. I’d been writing music on the side for years, building a client base while still teaching. At some point, the math shifted, and the music became the job.
I write for a wide range of ensembles: marching band, concert band, string orchestra, and more. Clients range from middle school programs to collegiate ensembles, and I’m expanding into professional and community settings as well. I do fully custom commissions, published works through RWS Music and Alfred Music, and I compose for drum corps, the elite tier of competitive marching music. Picture world-class musicians aged 18 to 21 competing nationally all summer. I write for the Santa Clara Vanguard out of Santa Clara, California. In 2025, I was named a National Finalist for the American Prize in Composition.
Alongside the custom work, I’ve built a catalog of pre-built, adaptable marching band shows, giving programs access to professional-quality music without the cost or timeline of a fully custom commission.
Everything connects back to education. I know what band directors are actually up against because I was one. That shapes everything I write.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
The hardest part of leaving teaching wasn’t financial. It was the identity shift. Being a band director is all-consuming, and walking away felt like losing something, even as it opened up something bigger.
Running everything solo adds its own layer. Writing music is the fun part. Client management, licensing, production systems, marketing- all of it competes for the same mental bandwidth I need to compose. Building systems that protect the creative work has been the real ongoing challenge.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I’m a composer first. Most of what I do is custom: original music for concert bands, string orchestras, marching ensembles, and drum corps. A lot of it is collaborative by nature. Marching band and drum corps are team sports in terms of design. I work alongside visual designers, drill writers, caption heads, and creative directors to make sure the music and the show are pulling in the same direction. That part of the work is something I genuinely love.
I also write for publication through RWS Music and Alfred Music, which puts my music in the hands of ensembles I’ll never work with directly. That kind of reach is its own reward.
One branch of the catalog is pre-built, adaptable shows for marching bands, tailored to fit a program’s instrumentation and needs. It’s a way to serve programs with different budget or timeline constraints without compromising quality.
Who else deserves credit in your story?
The directors and creative teams who hired me early, before there was much to point to. They trusted the work when it was still proving itself, and paying close attention to what they needed shaped a lot of what I’ve built.
The collaborators I work with regularly deserve real credit too. Drum corps and marching band design is never one person’s vision. It’s designers, visual captains, and creative directors all pushing each other. Working alongside people like that makes the music better than it would’ve been on its own.
And the broader band director community. It’s a generous, connected world. Directors go out of their way to recommend people they trust, and that’s not something you can manufacture.
Pricing:
- Pricing is tailored to each project and client. The goal is always a solution that fits the ensemble’s needs and circumstances. Start a conversation at evanvandoren.com.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://evanvandoren.com
- Instagram: @evanvandorenmusic
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/evanvandorenmusic
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@evanvandorenmusic
- Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/evan-vandoren
- Other: https://rwsmusic.com/composers/evan-vandoren/
