BriLee Music Turns 25

The mission of BriLee Music Publishing Company is to produce quality performance choral music for public and private school ensembles and to provide excellent service to the music retailer and the end consumer.

For the past 25 years, BriLee Music has been a leader in choral publishing. Conductor, educator, and clinician Brian Busch founded the company following his tenure as Director of Choral Publications for Columbia Pictures Publications, later to become CPP/Belwin, and finally Warner Bros. Brian’s years in the industry gave him the knowledge and skills to start BriLee Music Publishing Co. in August of 1996, with the first products launching in early 1997. Brian drew upon the combination of his name with that of his wife, Lee, for inspiration when naming the company.

Upon its founding, BriLee’s mission was to provide quality choral music for the Junior High/Middle School and Elementary School ensemble, and the impact of the company on the educational print music industry was strong and immediate. Writers such as Ruth Elaine Schram, Donald Moore, Vijay Singh, Sonja Poorman, Earlene Rentz, and David and Jean Perry soon began working with the company.

In 2007, Brian passed away after a battle with cancer. Brian spoke often about keeping his vision alive, and Carl Fischer Music, which took over exclusive distribution rights for BriLee Music following his death, committed to keeping the catalog focused on and developed around the Middle School/Jr. High choral ensemble, together with the group of talented writers that Brian had cultivated over the years.

25 years after our first publications, BriLee continues to be one of the most trusted names in the educational choral publishing space. Under the leadership of our Choral Editor, nationally-renowned clinician and teacher Denise Eaton, we have welcomed notable voices into our catalog, including Vicki Tucker Courtney, Laura Farnell, Greg Gilpin, Meredith Tompkin, Reginal Wright, Noah Reese, Dan Davison, and Christi Jones, among others. We have also embraced new technologies by making our products available digitally through app-compatible scores and PDF downloads, and streamlining the sync license approval process for sharing performances via web content and on social media.

As we look into the future, we are expanding our vision for what publishing can be, working to better suit the lifestyle of the modern musician while continuing to put forth repertoire of the highest quality. We are forever grateful to Brian for his ingenuity and dedication to creating wonderful choral music, and are honored to uphold his mission in serving the choral community.

Click below to explore some of our favorite selections from the BriLee catalog.

We believe...

That students should be given beautiful melodies to sing if they are to experience the beauty of music.
That students should sing lots of unison works so they can concentrate on blend, balance and the production of a beautiful tone.
That students should be introduced to a wide variety of music, from Renaissance to Contemporary, from the fun and light to the serious and challenging.
That every choir rehearsal should be a voice lesson.
That every time students open their mouths to sing, the results should be musical–even warm-ups.