Bright Sunny Days was commissioned by Kimberly Conklin and the J. T. Lambert Intermediate School 7th and 8th Grade Band (East Stroudsburg, PA). The genesis for the piece came from “mini-essays” that Ms. Conklin assigned to her band members, asking them “What would you like our commission to be about?” Although the responses were incredibly varied, some ideas recurred with regularity. These ideas included writing a piece that was both fast and fun to play and one that celebrated the end of the school year and the beginning of summer. The resultant piece, then, begins with the clock ticking toward the end of the final day of school. The winds are playing rising diminished chords (gradually increasing excitement) and the chimes are playing an augmented version of the traditional clock chime. This pitch material becomes the melodic basis for much of the rest of the piece. After a short introduction, Bright Sunny Days is simply a joyful celebration of summer, set in quasi-rondo form and featuring a complex metric structure.