Jason Robert Brown Visits Shenandoah

Tony Award-winning Broadway composer Jason Robert Brown visited Shenandoah Conservatory on Wednesday, Sept. 17, and Thursday, Sept. 18.

During his visit, Brown was the featured guest at the conservatory’s Performance Forum, an exclusive one-on-one student engagement opportunity with visiting artists for conservatory students. Assistant Dean for Student Learning and Associate Professor of Theatre Carolyn Coulson, Ph.D., and Director of Composition, Coordinator of New Music and Associate Professor of Composition Jonathan Newman, M.M., interviewed him about his work and creative process. Students were invited to ask questions at the end of the interview.

He also hosted a musical theatre vocal masterclass where students performed excerpts from major productions for feedback in a group setting, participated in a rehearsal for “Parade,” directed by Coulson, which will be presented at Shenandoah Conservatory from Thursday, Oct. 24, through Sunday, Oct. 27, in Glaize Studio Theatre, and led a cabaret planning seminar for composition students.

Davis noted that Brown also understood that the piece and its racially charged story can create complicated reactions for performers – particularly performers of color. However, Davis, who is a performer of color, said he loved how Brown encouraged dialogue about the piece’s issues, and how the composer assured performers of color that “‘The point is never to make you feel excluded from the storytelling but it’s also not to make you feel complicit to storytelling that you’re like not ready to tell, ya know?’”

Brown’s visit culminated Thursday evening in a rare cabaret-style concert featuring the songs and stories behind “Parade,” “The Last Five Years,” “Bridges of Madison County” and more in Ohrstrom-Bryant Theatre.

About Jason Robert Brown

Jason Robert Brown is the ultimate multi-hyphenate—an equally skilled composer, lyricist, conductor, arranger, orchestrator, director and performer—best known for his dazzling scores to several of the most renowned musicals of his generation, including the generation-defining “The Last Five Years,” his debut song cycle “Songs for a New World,” and the seminal “Parade,” for which he won the 1999 Tony Award for Best Score. Originally trained as a concert composer, Brown’s music is infused with so much keen sophistication that The New York Times referred to him as “a leading member of a new generation of composers who embody high hopes for the American musical.”