Made In Michigan

The Jackson Symphony has responded to this difficult time of social distancing and lockdowns with a unique and colorful series of online concerts. One of those programs, Made in Michigan, premiered on February 26, 2021 and featured outstanding performances of several works with connections to the Great Lakes State. My piece “Celebration,” the final movement of my Symphony for String Orchestra, was the closer. You can see the program online here. I think you will find the whole concert beautiful, exciting and very much worth your time. (My piece begins at 39:40.) For more information, click the banner below.

 

Commission Honoring the Centennial of
Henry Ford Allegiance Health 

The Jackson Symphony Orchestra is proud to announce the opening concert of its 69th season, to take place on Saturday, September 29 at 7:30 PM at the Potter Center, 2111 Emmons Rd., Jackson, MI.

The JSO presents Bernstein’s 100th Birthday as part of its Signature Series of classical concerts. Music Director Matthew Aubin invites you to join us as we pay homage to the great American musician, Leonard Bernstein.

In honor of Leonard Bernstein’s centennial, we pay tribute to the American conductor, composer, performer, and educator and humanitarian who would have turned 100 in August. The opening program of this season pays homage to Bernstein, the conductor, with a performance of Gustav Mahler’s 4th Symphony. Sound in Body, Mind and Spirit, a work composed in honor of Henry Ford Allegiance Health Care’s 100th birthday, will be premiered. Harold Haugh prizewinner Kisma Jordan joins the JSO.

PROGRAM

Jonathan Bruce Brown Sound in Body, Mind and Spirit, World premiere
Fernande Breilh-Decruck Les clochers de Vienne: Suite de Valses –an American premiere
Antonín Dvořák Carnival Overture, op.92, B.169
Gustav Mahler Symphony No.4 in G major

Conductor: Matthew Aubin

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NEW YORK PREMIERE OF SKYWARD

NEW COMMISSIONED WORK

The Jackson County Honors Band, a group of top students from high schools throughout Jackson County, has commissioned Bruce to write a new work in honor of their twenty-fifth year.  Bruce will conduct the premiere performance of the new composition, Fantasia on ‘Carrickfergus,’ on a concert at 7:00 p.m. on March 28th, 2017, in Western High School’s beautiful auditorium at 1400 S. Dearing Rd. in Parma.

The Jackson-area band directors chose the beautiful ballad ‘Carrickfergus’ as the basis for the composition to celebrate the fact Carrickfergus, a beautiful town in Ireland, is a sister city of Jackson.

DON’T MISS …

A dramatic new composition, Love, Death and War in the White House, will be presented by the Jackson Symphony Orchestra on May 2, 2015.  The performance will feature SAU’s drama director Paul Patton as Woodrow Wilson.

The piece is both a one-man show and an elaborate musical composition.  Both elements play important roles in telling the poignant story of Wilson’s time in office, the death of his wife, and the crushing responsibility of leading the country as World War I erupted in Europe.

The concert is the final event of the JSO’s 2014-15 season…

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LOOKING BACK WITH PRIDE; LOOKING
FORWARD WITH EXCITEMENT
CONSUMERS ENERGY EMPLOYEES CELEBRATE 125
YEARS OF SERVICE TO CUSTOMERS AND STATE OF MICHIGAN

JACKSON, Mich., June 20, 2012 – At a special event in Consumers Energy’s hometown today, employees, retirees and their families celebrated the privilege of serving customers and the State of Michigan for 125 years.

“Consumers Energy employees are grateful for the opportunity to serve the people of Michigan for 125 years with electric and natural gas service. Today, in our hometown of Jackson where our company began, we’re celebrating this history and focusing on adding value to our customers,” said John Russell, Consumers Energy’s president and chief executive officer.

Today’s events, held at the utility’s One Energy Plaza headquarters, began with a musical fanfare composed for the occasion by Dr. Bruce Brown, chair of the music department at Spring Arbor University and composer-in-residence with the Jackson Symphony Orchestra. Entitled “Let There Be Light,” the three-minute composition was performed by members of the orchestra’s brass section.

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Presenting a “Work in Progress”
Throughout the Season

Article on ArtsJournal.com by Greg Sandow,Tue, Oct. 12 2010

Something New

Still catching up. I want to talk about my visit to Jackson, MI a couple of weeks ago (and apologies to my old and new friends there, who might have expected to see something about them here earlier).

The outline: Stephen Osmond, an old friend of mine from graduate studies at the Yale School of Music (he was a tenor, I was a composer), is both music director and executive director of the Jackson Symphony. Sounds like a recipe for disaster, but no way. Steve is outstanding in both roles. And fearless, I must say, in confronting his orchestra’s future. Like most orchestras, they face diminished funding as they look at their future. Steve faces that manfully, and brought me out to help with what seems to be needed, a new way of engaging with the city of Jackson.

I’ll have more to say on what happened at my visit, and, how, exactly, an orchestra might engage the community. But since time is tight today, I’ll start with something really terrific that the orchestra is doing, something I’ve never encountered before.

Like many orchestras, they have a composer in residence, Jonathan Bruce Brown, chair of the music department at Spring Arbor University, near Jackson. Bruce (whom I enjoyed meeting during my visit) is a good choice, I think. His expertly crafted music is a pleasure to hear, and I’d guess goes down well with both the orchestra and the audience.

But get this — the way the orchestra is introducing the piece they’ve commissioned from Bruce this year. It’ll be premiered on the last concert of the season. And at each concert before that, Bruce will come on stage and present his work at whatever stage it’s reached. That won’t mean performing the entire work in progress (which might, at any stage, be a work in fragments). But Bruce will talk about the piece, and maybe the orchestra (or individual musicians) will play parts of it.

I think this is a fabulous idea. I heard the first installment, at the first concert of the year (an engaging glimpse at various aspects of romantic music, featuring Ian Hobson making his expert way through the Schumann piano concerto). All Bruce did was talk about what he was going to do — what the piece would be, and what the preview process would be like. He was hard to resist, and I’m sure he drew everyone in. At the next concert, I’m sure all the subscribers will be wondering what he’ll have to show them.

As I said, I’ve never run into this idea before. Has anyone else ever done it? If so, I’d love to hear about it. Certainly it’s an idea that others should steal.

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National Endowment Grant

OFFICE OF CONGRESSMAN TIM WALBERG

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: MATT LAHR

APRIL 11, 2007 (202) 225-6276

WALBERG ANNOUNCES $20,000 GRANT FOR JACKSON SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA

WASHINGTON D.C. – U.S. Congressman Tim Walberg (R-MI) today announced $20,000 in grant money has been awarded to the Jackson Symphony Orchestra by the National Endowment for the Arts. The grant for the orchestra will enable students to work with composer-in-residence Dr. Jonathan Bruce Brown and musicologist Anna Celenza to explore and create music in an eight-week music composition program.

“I am pleased to announce this grant which will further enrich music education in Jackson County,” Walberg said

BACKGROUND:

The matching grants from the National Endowment for the Arts help support projects that involve the creation and presentation of artistically excellent work – both new and established. Projects include commissions, residencies, rehearsals, workshops, performances, exhibitions, publications, festivals and training programs. Guidelines are available at www.arts.gov. This grant was awarded in the category of Learning in the Arts for Children & Youth.

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Matt Lahr

Press Secretary

Office of Congressman Tim Walberg (MI-07)

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Legacy of Vision Highlights Black History Month Celebration

Tue, Jan. 31 2006

Bruce Brown, chair of the music department at Spring Arbor University, will be the honored guest at the Pioneers of Success dinner celebration at Spring Arbor University for his tribute to Martin Luther King Jr.: “Legacy of Vision: Martin Luther King.” The event takes place in Ogle Dining Commons on Friday, Feb.10 at 7 p.m. Tickets are $5.

Sponsored by MICUP, the celebration includes dinner, a performance by the University’s gospel choir, jazz music and poetry. Following dinner, Paul Patton, assistant professor of communication, will narrate the musical piece, while Audrejean Heydenburg, assistant professor of music, accompanies on the piano. The gospel choir will provide vocals for the performance.

Brown began working on the tribute to King based on a recommendation from a colleague. Stephen Osmond approached him to write a piece honoring the civil rights activist in 1985.

“He envisioned a huge chorus, made of people from all races and walks of life, joining in a celebration of Dr. King’s legacy with a narration drawn from his speeches woven throughout,” says Brown. “I have always found Dr. King’s ‘I Have a Dream’ speech very inspiring and I relished the chance to set it to music,” says Brown. “In writing the music I tried to capture some of the nobility, idealism and urgency with which Dr. King always spoke. I also tried to pay tribute to his power to move hearts and minds when he spoke of the tremendous need of all people for simple justice and commitment to a higher purpose in life.”

Nearly 20 years later, Brown’s tribute to King continues to captivate audiences across the country. His piece has been played at the Cincinnati Music Festival and in Salt Lake City, Washington D. C. and several more cities from coast to coast.

Brown’s love for music stems from his childhood in a musical family. “I admire the imagination and creativity of many composers including Mozart, Beethoven, Mahler and countless others. I’m also inspired by great storytellers – and writers like Allen Chinen who wrote about the meaning of folktales. I think the pieces I write are often a lot like tales or parables.”

While “Legacy for Vision” is one of his better-known pieces, Brown has written more than 100 compositions throughout his career. In addition to his leadership and teaching roles for the the music department at SAU, Brown also serves as composer in residence for the Jackson Symphony Orchestra. He has been honored with several awards including the 1991 Sears-Roebuck Foundation Award for teaching excellence, and Faculty Merit Awards in 1988 and 1995. His compositions have also been recognized by annual awards from the American Society for Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) since 1992.

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Celebration of Martin Luther King Day in Warsaw, Indiana

Sun, Jan. 22 2006

Dr. Bruce Brown served as the keynote speaker for the 2006 celebration of Martin Luther King Day in Warsaw, Indiana, on January 15th. His Legacy of Vision: Martin Luther King was the featured composition for the 18th annual event, which was attended by about 600 people despite a competing playoff game by the beloved Indianapolis Colts.

Dr. Frank Beard recited Dr. King’s thrilling words as the Fort Wayne Youth Symphony performed the music under the able direction of Brad Thachuk. The choirs from Warsaw Community High School, Scott Avery, director, and the Come As U R Community Church sang with spirit and passion.

The event was organized by the Committee to Commemorate Dr. Martin Luther King under the leadership of Lynn Pulliam and Joseph Banks.

Terra Brantley, the popular news anchor at Fort Wayne’s WANE, served as a sparkling master of ceremonies.