Dr. Andrea Brown (University of Maryland & Women Rising to the Podium)

Sketchbook with Daniel Montoya Jr.

Dr. Andrea E. Brown was appointed the Associate Director of Bands at the University of Maryland in 2018. In this position, she conducts the University of Maryland Wind Ensemble and serves as the Director of Athletic Bands. Brown is formerly a member of the conducting faculty at the University of Michigan where she served as the assistant director of bands and was a faculty sponsor of a College of Engineering Multidisciplinary Design Project team researching conducting pedagogy technology. Previously Brown was the director of orchestra and assistant director of bands at the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta. She is a frequent guest conductor, clinician, and adjudicator in the US, Europe, and Asia. Brown completed a DMA in instrumental conducting at UNC Greensboro where she was a student of John Locke and Kevin Geraldi. While at UNCG, she was both guest conductor and principal horn on UNCG Wind Ensemble's fireworks! and finish line! CDs released on the Equilibrium label. Brown has also had several rehearsal guides published in the popular GIA Publications series, "Teaching Music Through Performance in Band" and has presented at the Midwest Clinic in Chicago, Music For All Summer Symposium, the Yamaha Bläserklasse in Schlitz, Germany, the International Computer Music Conference in Ljubljana, Slovenia, the College Music Society International Conference in Sydney, Australia, and multiple times at the College Band Directors National Association National Conference. A proponent of inclusion and equity issues in the music profession, Brown is a frequent guest speaker on these topics. She currently serves on the CBDNA Diversity Committee and is a member of the Drum Corps International Women’s In Step Committee. Brown is the founder of “Women Rising to the Podium”- an online group of over 3600 members supporting and celebrating women band directors. Additionally, she also serves the chair of the Sigma Alpha Iota Women’s Music Fraternity Graduate Conducting Grant and an advisor of the SAI chapter at the University of Maryland. Brown previously served on the brass and conducting instructional staff of the DCI World Champion Phantom Regiment (2004 – 2017). Other marching organizations she has instructed include the U.S. Army All-American Marching Band, Carolina Crown, and Spirit of Atlanta. Brown will serve a music judge for DCI for the 2021 season. As a performer, Brown was a member of the AA Brass Quintet, which won the International Brass Quintet Competition hosted by Fred Mills at the University of Georgia. She performed with the horn sections of the Boston Brass All-Stars Big Band, North Carolina Symphony, Winston-Salem Symphony, and the Brevard Music Center Orchestra. Brown has studied brass performance and pedagogy with Abigail Pack, J.D. Shaw, Jack Masarie, Freddy Martin, Dottie Bennett, Randy Kohlenberg, Richard Steffen, and Ed Bach. Originally from Milan, Tennessee, she is a graduate of Austin Peay State University and earned a master of music degree in horn performance and a master of music education degree with a cognate in instrumental conducting from UNCG. Prior to her position at Georgia Tech, Brown was the assistant director of bands at Austin Peay State University and taught public school in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and Dallas, Texas. She is a member of Phi Kappa Phi, Pi Kappa Lambda, NAfME, and CBDNA. She was awarded the Rose of Honor as a member of Sigma Alpha Iota Women's Music Fraternity and is an honorary member of Kappa Kappa Psi and Tau Beta Sigma. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/sketchbookpodcast/support