CWJ Music House Publications

CWJ Music House Publications CWJ Music House Publications is a privately owned music composition and publishing company.

We are dedicated fo providing Quality, Affordable Literature for Your World of Music. We publish music for bands and orchestras of all ages and ability levels.

STAR-SPANGLED SURPRISE is now available at J.W. Pepper!Link in comments.
08/21/2026

STAR-SPANGLED SURPRISE is now available at J.W. Pepper!

Link in comments.

We are proud to announce the release of STAR-SPANGLED SURPRISE arranged by John Wernega! This tribute to the U.S.A. expl...
08/19/2026

We are proud to announce the release of STAR-SPANGLED SURPRISE arranged by John Wernega!

This tribute to the U.S.A. explodes with patriotic melodies emerging throughout the arrangement. It combines driving force and lush harmonies from beginning to end, with two beautiful ballads interspersed. The arrangement is full of exciting runs that will be lots of fun for your advanced, technical players. Toward the end, the piece explodes into an exhilarating version of Stars and Stripes Forever that will have audiences on the edges of their seats.

Congratulations John and best of luck in the WIBC Top 100 Contest!

(Link in the comments)

Four outstanding selections are headed to Ashland, Oregon for consideration in this year’s Bandworld Top 100 Project. Go...
08/19/2026

Four outstanding selections are headed to Ashland, Oregon for consideration in this year’s Bandworld Top 100 Project. Good luck to all of our writers!

SPOTLIGHT ON OUR WRITERS SERIESToday we are proud to feature John Wernega! He has numerous works for band, brass ensembl...
08/13/2026

SPOTLIGHT ON OUR WRITERS SERIES

Today we are proud to feature John Wernega! He has numerous works for band, brass ensemble, and many other types of small ensembles. Check out his works at our website.

John Wernega is a multi-instrumentalist, music teacher, arranger, and director in South Jersey. He has a Bachelor of Music Education from Glassboro State College (1993), and he has a Masters in Music Education from Westminster Choir College of Rider University (2011).

John has taught Instrumental, Choral, Handbells, and K to 8 General Music at Quinton Township School since 1994. He started a barbershop harmony program at the school in the spring of 2014, and at this time he is the only music teacher in the country that has an elementary barbershop chorus. In 2019 he founded Head Start in Harmony, which is a yearly festival for elementary barbershop singing.

Articles about John's success with his students appear in Choral Director Magazine and School Band and Orchestra Magazine. In 2020 he was the recipient of the "Music Educator of the Year" Award by the National Association for Music Education and Barbershop Harmony Society. He was inducted into the Philadelphia Mummers String Band Hall of Fame in 2012 for his success in arranging.

John enjoys arranging for a wide variety of ensembles, including concert band, handbell choir, choir, barbershop chorus/quartet, British Brass Band, Orchestra, brass quintet, and instrumental quartets for all woodwind and brass instruments.

Congratulations John, and best wishes for a great year!

Are you a band director looking for new repertoire for the 2026-27 School Year? You owe it to yourself to check out our ...
08/13/2026

Are you a band director looking for new repertoire for the 2026-27 School Year? You owe it to yourself to check out our 75 selections for bands! We have pieces for all ages and abilities, written by a diverse group of composers and arrangers.

When you order from us, you receive personalized customer service you can't get anywhere else. The highest level of care goes into every order. Every piece is hand printed, folded and stapled, and checked for inaccuracies or defects before it is shipped.

Come check us out at our website (listed in the comments below). Thank you for supporting the little guy!

SPOTLIGHT ON OUR WRITERS SERIESAs we kick off the 2026-27 school year, we want to highlight our writers and their works ...
08/12/2026

SPOTLIGHT ON OUR WRITERS SERIES

As we kick off the 2026-27 school year, we want to highlight our writers and their works for sale through CWJ Music House Publications. Today we feature Douglas Ballard!

C. Douglas Ballard is a Philadelphia-based music educator who has worked with bands since 1999. He holds a BS in Vocal and Instrumental Music Education from West Chester University (2002), where he served as student director of the Incomparable Golden Rams Marching Band and student conductor of the Symphonic Band. He earned his MM in Conducting and Band Pedagogy from the American Band College (2010), where he was honored as the 2010 soloist in Irving Berlin: A Man & His Music.

Since 2022, Douglas has served as Director of Bands at Upper Darby High School in Drexel Hill, PA — one of the most diverse public high schools in the country – where he directs the Wind Ensemble, Concert Band, Jazz Flex Lab Band, and the award-winning Marching Royals.

Under his leadership, the Marching Royals have earned an impressive four PA State Championships and was named a National Champion at USBands finals in 2025; but Douglas is equally passionate about the growth and excellence of all his ensembles. In 2024, the Upper Darby Wind Ensemble was selected by Disney Imagination Campus as a featured Disney Springs performing group — a prestigious honor reflecting the ensemble’s musical excellence and inclusive spirit.

Douglas marched mellophone with the Crossmen Drum & Bugle Corps (1998–2001) and later served as Assistant Director of Drum Corps Operations. He has taught in Title 1 schools since 2003 when he began his career, guiding programs to superior ratings and showing that high standards thrive even in under-resourced environments. He has also consulted with bands across the U.S., from Arizona to Maine, offering creative, student- centered solutions.

Douglas has built a wide-ranging theatre background as a performer, pit musician, director, and orchestrator. His stage roles have included leading performances as Tevye in Fiddler on the Roof and Daddy Warbucks in Annie, along with additional work in musical theatre productions throughout the Philadelphia region. He has also performed in pit orchestras and directed a critically praised production of The Wizard of Oz. In addition to his stage and directing work, Douglas has orchestrated musicals for Pioneer Drama Service, helping schools bring theatre to life with practical, accessible resources.

Douglas believes that great band music should be skill-appropriate, musically fulfilling, and written with the student experience in mind. He is proud to be part of the CWJ Music House team, where that vision is brought to life in every composition.

Congratulations Doug, and best wishes for a great school year! Go Royals! 💜 💛 🎶

John Wernega’s arrangement is truly fantastic! Friends, you HAVE to take a listen to this! (Link in the comments)
08/06/2026

John Wernega’s arrangement is truly fantastic! Friends, you HAVE to take a listen to this! (Link in the comments)

We are thrilled to have four new releases hot off the press and ready for your band this fall! • SKYLANDS CELEBRATION by...
08/06/2026

We are thrilled to have four new releases hot off the press and ready for your band this fall!

• SKYLANDS CELEBRATION by Christopher W. Johnson
• GRACE & GLORY arr. C. Douglas Ballard
• DANNY BOY arr. John Wernega
and coming very soon,
• STAR-SPANGLED SURPRISE arr. John Wernega

Look for all of these and more at our website:
www.cwjmusichouse.com

We are very excited to release STAR-SPANGLED SURPRISE. This is going to be an awesome piece! Look for the Score Previews...
08/06/2026

We are very excited to release STAR-SPANGLED SURPRISE. This is going to be an awesome piece!

Look for the Score Previews video soon. We also expect a mid-August release for sale. Stay tuned!

One more selection from John Wernega coming at you soon. This one is fun! (Link to his video in the comments)
08/01/2026

One more selection from John Wernega coming at you soon. This one is fun! (Link to his video in the comments)

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Barrington, NJ
08007

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(908)5479762

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