Carlos Brown
Assistant Professor, Director of Choral Activities
Carlos B. Brown, D.M.A., Conductor, Scholar, Lyric Tenor, and Composer, is a native of Atlanta, Georgia where he received his musical foundation. After earning his Bachelor of Arts degree in Music from Benedict College in South Carolina, he received the Master of Music degree with distinction in Choral Conducting from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln (UNL). While there, he served as the Assistant Conductor for the University of Nebraska-Lincoln University Singers and Varsity Men’s Choruses as he completed his secondary studies in orchestral conducting with a focus on choral master works. Brown went on to earn the Doctor of Musical Arts degree in Choral Conducting and Sacred Music from the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music (CCM).
He studied conducting with mentors who developed his depth of interpretation, proper execution of style, clarity of approach, baton technique, score analysis, and technical acuity under such conducting specialists as Dr. Kenneth G. Bodiford, (Jacksonville State University); Dr. Linda L. Kershaw (Benedict College), who mentored with Natalie Hiinderas; Dr. Peter A. Eklund, (Director of Choral Activities, UNL); Dr. Tyler G. White, (Orchestral Studies, University of Nebraska-Lincoln), Dr. Earl G. Rivers (CCM); Dr. L. Brett Scott (CCM); Dr. Kevin Holzman (CCM), and Dr. Aik Khai Pung (Orchestral Conductor Professor (CMM ). He has taken conducting master classes with David Rayl, Jo-Michael Schiebe, Jean-Sebastien Valle, Grammy Award Winning conductor Jason Harris, Professor Andreas Hermann (Hochschule für Musik und Theater München) and Distinguished American composer and conductor Dale Warland. He has also pursued additional score study and conducting performance practices with his mentors Dr. Lloyd B. Mallory, Jr., Dr. David E. Morrow, Dr. Sharon J. Willis, and Dr. Robert Harris. He was also mentored by the late Maestro Roger McMurrin.
Currently, Brown serves as Director of Choral Activities at the College of Charleston where he conducts the acclaimed Concert Choir, Gospel Choral, and teach undergraduate and graduate courses. Brown previously served as Associate Professor of Music and Director of Choral Activities at Central State University in Wilberforce, Ohio, where he conducted the Grammy Nominated Central State University Chorus, and The Marauder Singers (Chamber Ensemble). Prior to his tenure at CSU, Brown served as Assistant Professor of Music and Director of Choral Activities at Wiley College in Marshall, Texas, where he conducted the acclaimed Wiley College A Capella Choir, and Lecturer of Music at Atlanta Metropolitan State College.
He is the Founder and Artistic Director of the Angelic Master Chorale a semi-professional chamber ensemble dedicated to the performance and preservation of African American choral music and European classical music, Cincinnati, Ohio; He is also the founder of the Brothers In Song Glee Club (Columbia, SC). He has performed works ranging from traditional classical masterworks to thrilling performances of Negro Spirituals. He is the leading scholar on the TTBB Choral Music of Uzee Brown, Jr., the choral works and selected instrumental works of Sharon J. Willis, and African American composers and arranger from the late1900s to the present.
Conducting and Professional highlights include College of Charleston Concert Choir performed the choral music of Dr. Sharon J. Willis featuring the world premiere of three works by Willis, A Celebration Mass in Honor of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., On the Wings of a Dove (choral setting), and Rockin’ Jerusalem (Charleston, SC) March 2024, Delta State University Honor Choir guest conductor (Cleveland, MS) February 2024, Georgetown County School District Honor Choir guest conductor (Georgetown, SC) January 2024, The International Conductors Guild Conference presenter (Manhattan, NY) January 2024, College of Charleston Concert Choir performed with the Charleston Symphony Orchestra, Majestic Brucker under the baton of Maestro Carl St. Clair (Charleston, SC) November 2023, The National Association of Negro
Musicians (NANM) Conference presenter (Dallas, TX) July 2023. The International Conductors Guild Conference presenter (Valencia, Spain) January 2023. The National Association of Negro Musicians (NANM) Conference presenter (Atlanta, GA) July 2022. Dr. Brown and the Grammy Nominated Central State University Chorus performed at the invitation of the Ohio Choral Directors Association (OCDA) June 2020 and 2021; The Central State University Chorus performed with Grammy Award winner Kanye West for the Dayton Sunday of Hope Service, Dayton, OH, August 2019; Dr. Brown presented the Doctor of Musical Arts Lecture-Recital titled “God, Give Us Men! An Examination and Introduction to Seven Contrasting Pieces for Men’s Chorus by Uzee Brown, Jr.,” April 2018; Te Deum, Op. 103, by Antonin Dvořák, Dr. Brown, Conductor, The College Conservatory of Music’s Choral Concert Series, February 2018; Artist-in-Residence at Bethel Missionary Church, Dayton, OH, culminating in a celebration concert titled, Celebrate the King: An Easter Celebration,” January 2018-April 2018; Magnificat in D major, Op. 486 by Franz Schubert, The College Conservatory of Music’s Choral Concert Series, November 2017; Geistliches Lied, Op. 30 by Johannes Brahms and Elegischer Gesang, Op. 118 by Ludwig van Beethoven both with string quartet, October 2016; one of the featured conductors for the College Conservatory of Music’s annual Feast of Carols Holiday Concert conducting Gloria with Brass and Organ by Randol Bass, December 2016.
Because of Dr. Brown’s predilection for developing young conductors and his devotion to the preservation of African American music, especially the Negro Spiritual, he was invited to publish an article in The Liturgical Journal titled “Perspectives on Choral Conducting: Exploring the Conductor’s Head, Hand, and Heart”; Dr. Brown’s Dissertation: God Give Us Men: An Examination and Introduction to the Life, TTBB Choral Music, and Scholarship of Uzee Brown, Jr., is being submitted for publication later this year. He also served as a panelist for the Black Music Matters Summit, Virtual Conference based out of Chicago, 2020.
In addition to Dr. Brown’s choral activities and teaching, Brown is a published composer and owns several choral copyrights including We’re Climbing Jacob’s Ladder, TTBB; I’ve Been in de Storm for so Long, TTBB; If I Got My Ticket, Can I Ride? TTBB, SATB, and Solo Voices; I’ve Never Seen the Righteous Forsaken, SATB; and We Shall Overcome, TTBB (A Choral Fanfare). Publishers of his music credit the composer with having a great respect for the traditional choral setting of the spiritual while infusing innovative use of harmonic sequences and atypical rhythms.
Professional memberships include Omicron Delta Kappa National Leadership Honor Society (ODK); National Association of Negro Musicians, Inc. (NANM); Chorus America; American Choral Conductors Association (ACDA); International Conductors Guild (Board Member and Conference Chairman); Ohio Choral Directors Association (OCDA); Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia; Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc., and Board Member of Americolor Opera Alliance, Incorporated, which is a non-profit theater arts performance organization.
Education
Benedict College
Bachelor of Arts
University of Nebraska- Lincoln
Master of Music
University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music
Doctor of Musical Arts
Courses Taught
MUSC 131 - Music Appreciation
MUSC 161 - Concert Choir
MUSC 365 - Gospel Choir
MUSE 685 - Conducting, Style and Analysis I: Renaissance through Classical Period