Marshall's arrangement of "If You Could Hie to Kolob" performed by the American Heritage Lyceum Philharmonic

Posted on March 24, 2017 by K McDonald | 0 comments

Marshall's arrangement of "If You Could Hie to Kolob" performed by the American Heritage Lyceum Philharmonic

Click here to find the sheet music and recordings of several versions of Marshall McDonald's arrangement of "If You Could Hie to Kolob":

My arrangement of “If You To Hie to Kolob,” and the experiences I've had in sharing it over the years, have led to some of the sweetest moments of my musical life.  A sincere thank you to Kayson Brown and the American Heritage Lyceum Philharmonic for creating this moving video and treating the arrangement with respect and reverence. I hope that as you "hie to Kolob" --or strive to come unto Christ --you will feel the Savior’s love and compassion that He has for all of us.

 

 

 

 

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Christmas Oranges Concert Coming Up!

Posted on November 12, 2016 by K McDonald | 0 comments

Christmas Oranges Concert on Saturday, December 3, 2016 at 7 pm at the Salt Lake University of Utah Institute

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Simply Sacred New Book Release for Late Beginners

Posted on May 14, 2016 by K McDonald | 1 comment

I am excited to announce the release of Simply Sacred: Piano Solos for the Aspiring Pianist designed for late beginner/early intermediate pianists.

Of the hundreds of things I have done in my career, I think I am more excited about this project than anything else (no offense to Steven Sharp Nelson, The Piano Guys, Mormon Tabernacle Choir, Paul Cardall, Peter Hollens and others!)

I have seen and felt that there is a great need in the music industry for late beginner/early intermediate sacred hymn piano solos. There are some nice real simple books out there and then this HUGE jump to many wonderful intermediate/advanced books.

After extensive piano pedagogy study, consultation with piano teachers, and lots of prayer and promptings I feel that these arrangements will bless a lot of lives and meet a wide variety of needs. I had some very special moments arranging these pieces and that is why I think I am so excited to share this with the world. We have received some pretty incredible feedback from pianists both young and old.

These arrangements have substance and emotion but follow simpler technique patterns. They certainly will sound a lot more difficult than they are to play. Please let me know what you think about them and what we can do in the future to make music more accessible and available to you. Have a great day!

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Ave Maria performed by Lexi Walker with the Lyceum Orchestra

Posted on December 04, 2015 by K McDonald | 0 comments

Mormon.org is releasing a set of videos for their "Christmas 12 Days of Social" by various renowned youtube artists and today they chose Marshall's orchestral arrangement of Ave Maria as featured in Lyceum Philharmonic's recently produced video. It is in Marshall's top 3 of pieces he has ever written! 

Last holiday season, Marshall arranged Ave Maria for vocalist, Lexi Walker and the American Heritage Lyceum Philharmonic. She performed it at Kate Winslet's Golden Hat Foundation benefit concert in Carnegie Hall, New York City.

Sheet music for full orchestra with vocal solo is available by clicking here.

Posted in Ave Maria, YouTube

New Piano Solo Book Release: Abide with Me

Posted on November 17, 2015 by K McDonald | 1 comment

Marshall is excited to announce the release of Abide with Me, his new book of piano solo hymn arrangements.

Abide with Me piano solo book by Marshall McDonald

Featuring the following ten arrangements:

This sheet music book is available in two formats: 

  • Hard-copy book with CD (spiral-bound book, shipped to your home)
  • PDF digital download with MP3s (a link to download it will be emailed to you after checkout)

Posted in Abide with Me, New Music

Angels from the Realms of Glory YouTube Video Release

Posted on December 12, 2014 by K McDonald | 0 comments

Marshall McDonald wrote and arranged the music for this record-breaking live nativity video celebrating the true meaning of Christmas. Starring The Piano Guys, Peter Hollens, David Archuleta, Alex Boye, The Mormon Tabernacle Choir, and more! Thank you to Mack Wilberg for his choral arrangement of "Angels We Have Heard on High".

SHEET MUSIC for this arrangement, as well as a piano solo version are available by clicking here.

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Collaboration with The Piano Guys, David Archuleta and Peter Hollens for Live Nativity World Record

Posted on December 04, 2014 by K McDonald | 1 comment

Marshall composed and arranged the music for the Live Nativity World Record #SharetheGift video due to be released on The Piano Guys' YouTube Channel December 12th.

Over 1K gather in Provo to create world's largest live nativity

KSL.com, by McKenzie Romero

PROVO — A cheer went up as the final tally was read: 1,039 in the cast of characters playing out a record-breaking Nativity scene.

Dressed in white to play hundreds of angels, volunteers descended on Rock Canyon Park to claim the Guinness Book of World Records' title for largest live Nativity on Monday. Leading roles in the production were played by musicians, local TV favorites and YouTube stars, many of whom are widely known for their membership in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

A camel, a donkey and a small herd of sheep also got to be included in the headcount.

Michael Empric, a Guinness World Record adjudicator, used a series of numbered wristbands to count the participants and declare the record Monday. The previous record, 889 participants, was set in Great Britain last year.

"What I've loved is everyone has been in such a great mood today," Empric said. "I always like it when record attempts are successful and hopefully it stays the record for a while."

But above the goal of a world-record title was the hope of spotlighting Jesus Christ's birth through the cacophony of a commercialized Christmas.

"We focus so much on what to buy and what specials there are," said Austin Craig, who helped plan the project and was busy producing behind-the-scenes coverage Monday. "What is Christmas really about? It's about your faith."

Julie Jordan, a South Weber resident, took photos as her four children, their two cousins, and a family friend all gathered around the grazing camel that would soon become part of the scene. Amidst their memories of the day will be lessons of faith, she said.

"I hope they feel the spirit of Christ in Christmas, and it's something we share together and we can remember in years to come," Jordan said.

The project, which was branded with the hashtag #ShareTheGift, will become a video that will be shared later this month by the participating social media stars who have "tens of millions of subscribers" collectively, Craig said. Among the "YouTubers" were Shay Carl and Colette Butler of the Shaytards; Devin Graham, famous for his daredevil Devin Super Tramp productions; Stuart Edge, the brain behind a series of clean pranks; and the creators of the Cute Girl Hairstyles instructional videos.

Music for the video will be provided by David Archuleta, the Mormon Tabernacle Choir and The Piano Guys. The production was coordinated and funded byThe Radiant Foundation.

Craig emphasizes the live Nativity was a multi-faith effort.

"It's not just Mormons making a Mormon video, these are Christians focusing on Christ," Craig said. "We want to bring that focus back on Jesus during the Christmas season, so that people remember that it's about more than Santa and reindeer and presents and what's in my stocking. This is a time to remember the redeemer of the world."

After gathering to be counted for the record, the volunteer angels stood as a backdrop while the Nativity was played out and filled in a grid painted on the grass to depict a Nativity when photographed from above.

Butler, who is known as ShayCarl in the videos he makes with his wife and five children, reprised a wise man for Nativity, a role that he jokes put his beard to good use. The rest of his family joined the angel chorus for the video.

The family's motivation for trekking to Provo from Idaho was spiritual, Butler said.

"We figured this was the best place to be, rather than in the mall or cyber shopping somewhere," Butler said. "To have this video and to look back on it and say we were part of breaking a world record and helping share the message of Jesus Christ for Christmas, that's something more valuable than anything else we could be doing today."

Spanish Fork resident Jerick Rose, 14, learned via Facebook that "ShayCarl," who he calls his role model, would be at the live Nativity and recruited a friend to accompany him.

"I totally got a picture with him, it was the best," an excited Jerick said, adjusting his costume, a white fabric cone with small LED lights running through the bottom. "I'm just excited because I'm a part of this world record, you know, it's going to be super big."

Jerick will be anxiously awaiting the video, but in the meantime, "I'm going to post all of my photos on Instagram," he said.

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