In her tone poem City Rain, Judith Zaimont captures the spirit and vitality of a summer shower as it falls on a busy city street. This piece draws a lively picture of a passing storm and is unified by the jazz-like rhythmic motivebased on the pattern of the title words city rain. Zaimont paints the image of rain through the rhythmic motive and the use of body percussion and alternative instruments (such as tapping patterns on music stands). As the musicunfolds, each section of the band is spotlighted at different times. The instruments also join together to produce layers of sound that create interesting and complex jazz chords. BandQuest, an exciting series of new music andaccompanying curricula for band, is a program published by the American Composers Forum. The series was started as a response to feedback from music educators that there is a pressing need for new, fresh band music. The heart ofthis program is new works written by a diverse group of leading American composers who ha ve created challenging pieces that are a true departure from standard middle school repertoire. Every BandQuest project includes a residencycomponent in which the composer works collaboratively with a middle school as they create their new piece. Many BandQuest pieces are accompanied by an interdisciplinary curriculum designed to assist students as they learn themusic and to integrate each piece with non-music studies. Visit www.bandquest.org to learn more about this innovative series, and emailwnloadable audio catalog.