Glenn Korff School of Music Alumnus Carlos B. Brown (M.M. 2014) has won the American Prize Dale Warland Award in Choral Conducting. Brown currently serves as assistant professor and director of choral activities at the College of Charleston in Charleston, South Carolina.
“I am humbled to have received such a distinguished award,” Brown said. “To be selected as the top winner of the American Prize in Choral Conducting Dale Warland Award means more to me than words or pen can tell. I am still astonished when I think that respected conductors from all across the country felt that my conducting was a cut above the rest and worthy of the grand prize. For that, I am eternally grateful. I stand on the shoulders of so many great conductors and mentors. I am grateful for the hours of score study, podium time, refinement and demanding excellence from me every time I stepped on the podium.”
Peter Eklund, the Hixson-Lied Professor of Music and Director of Choral Activities for the Glenn Korff School of Music, said the award was a big honor for Brown.
“Carlos came here in the fall of 2012 as a raw, hungry-for-knowledge, and ambitious conducting student,” Eklund said. “He quickly became very excited about learning all things regarding great ‘baton technique’ and became a consummate team player in our large choral family. We are very excited for Carlos and his students.”
Brown said the award was validating.
“This award further validates all of the things that my former teachers, mentors and other distinguished conductors and consummate musicians have been saying for years regarding my work as a professional conductor,” Brown said. “I am excited and look forward to what this prestigious honor will yield and afford me as a conductor and artist.”
Brown said winning the award has made him realize the importance of perseverance and dedication to both his aspirations and to excellence.
“Receiving this award taught me the value of remaining steadfast and focused on my dreams and desires knowing that sometimes the reward may not come when you expect it but continue to strive for excellence,” he said. “Which includes seeking the best education, gleaning from the best in the field, and finding a good mentor that will help you realize your potential, but above all, believe in yourself.”
A native of Atlanta, Brown earned his Bachelor of Arts in music from Benedict College in South Carolina, his Master of Music degree with distinction in choral conducting from the University of Nebraska–Lincoln, and his Doctor of Musical Arts degree in choral conducting and sacred music from the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music.
While at Nebraska, he served as the assistant conductor for University Singers and Varsity Men’s Chorus.
At the College of Charleston, he conducts the acclaimed Concert Choir, Gospel Choral and teaches both undergraduate and graduate courses and mentors graduate conductors. He is currently in the production phase for a CD recording project and is looking to mount several choral orchestral works soon.
“The choral program at the College of Charleston has a long history of choral excellence on international, national, regional and state levels,” Brown said.
Brown said his interest in conducting began in high school when he was introduced to choral music by Rushia Evans at North Atlanta School Center for the Arts.
“My passion for conducting was realized during my undergraduate years at Jacksonville State University and Benedict College,” he said. “I was blessed to study beginning and advanced instrumental and advanced choral conducting with Dr. Kenneth G. Bodiford and Dr. Linda L. Kershaw. Both conductors are responsible for helping me to birth and ignite the conducting gift that was inside of me. One of the things that I love the most about conducting is the fact that I get to mold and shape sound in such a way that sometimes cannot be explained. As an artist, conductor and scholar, I have come to love the time spent in score study and silent preparation because it allows me to truly ‘meet’ the composer and solidify my ideas and interpretations.”
In the Glenn Korff School of Music, where he studied with both Eklund and Tyler White, professor and director of orchestras, Brown said he received the best of both worlds.
“I was both refined and stretched as a conductor in choral and orchestral conducting,” he said. “I am grateful for having gone beyond the conventions of the times, which did not require students to take orchestral conducting. During my private study with Dr. White, I was taught to see things as an orchestral conductor. Further, Dr. Eklund’s insistence on having a gestural language that was crystal clear and knowing the scholarship has served me well in my career as a conductor.”
He advises conducting students to make the most of the opportunities they have.
“I would tell every master’s and doctoral student not to be afraid to go beyond the conventions of your program requirements,” he said. “Take advantage of every opportunity to grow and glean all that you can from every conductor on the faculty.”
Brown has 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, The Marauder Singers (Chamber Ensemble). Prior to his tenure at CSU, he was assistant professor of music and director of choral activities at Wiley College in Marshall, Texas, where he conducted the acclaimed Wiley College A Cappella Choir and was a lecturer of music at Atlanta Metropolitan State College.
He is the founder and artistic director of the Angelic Master Chorale in Cincinnati, Ohio, a semi-professional chamber ensemble dedicated to the performance and preservation of African American choral music and European classical music. He is also the founder of the Brothers in Song Glee Club in Columbia, South Carolina.
For more on Brown, visit https://go.unl.edu/carlosbrown.
The American Prize National Nonprofit Competitions in the Performing Arts is the nation’s most comprehensive series of contests in the performing arts. The American Prize is unique in scope and structure, designed to recognize and reward the best performing artists, directors, ensembles and composers in the U.S. at professional, college/university, community and high school levels. The American Prize Dale Warland Award in Choral Conducting celebrates the artistry of one of the greatest choral conductors of his generation, Dale Warland. In a quarter-century with The Dale Warland Singers, he shaped an all-professional a cappella ensemble lauded for its exquisite sound, technical finesse and stylistic range.