Me the Machine

Me, the Machine is a piece of social commentary about the line between us and our devices, and how quietly it has disappeared. It sits with an uncomfortable truth: we don't just use the machines anymore, we've merged with them. The phone in the hand, the feed that never ends, the systems that watch and sort us while we scroll. Somewhere along the way, the tool became an extension of the self, and then it was hard to say where one stopped and the other began.

The show leans into that tension. It moves between the cold precision of the mechanical and the warmth of the human still buried inside it, asking whether we are running the machine or the machine is running us. It's a thinking audience's show, a concept with something to say, built for a program that wants a production with a point of view rather than just a highlight reel. The design gives an ensemble real dramatic range to play, from the clinical to the deeply human, and rewards a band ready to commit to the idea.

Permissions to Arrange are required for:

• Machine (William Bolcom)
• Hymn of Acxiom (Vienna Teng)
• Uffe's Woodshop (Tyondai Braxton)

This show is rated Medium-Advanced, which lines up with a concert grade of roughly 2.5 to 4.5. That's an approximation. A featured soloist or small ensemble moment can sit toward the top of that range, while full ensemble sections built around visual impact stay lighter on the musical demand.

The rating leans almost entirely on rhythmic and technical difficulty. Keys and meters are chosen to stay band-friendly and to line up with the phrasing the drill needs, and instrument ranges sit inside the grade window rather than pushing its edges.

The rest of the score is Ryan's original writing.