̨Íåswag

Roughly 30 Georgia high school students visited the University of North Georgia (̨Íåswag) Dahlonega Campus Jan. 29 to participate in the inaugural Brass & Percussion Day, an event created by faculty member Michael S. Brown, Jr. and hosted by the Department of Music. The day concluded with a concert performance.

The event offered young musicians an opportunity to participate in a fundamentals class, master class and brass choir with a concert to close out the event, working closely all day with the ̨Íåswag brass and percussion faculty. 

Brass & Percussion Day was inspired by an event from Brown's undergraduate experience, which saw high school students, college students and a guest artist perform together.

"I wanted to bring this event to ̨Íåswag for three years, and this is the first year I could really do it—and do it justice," Brown said. "The whole thing is we learn three pieces of music today and perform them tonight—with a guest conductor and a guest composer — to feature the Department of Music."

Hannah Dale, a percussionist, thought the event was "really good" and she "learned a lot."

"The main thing about music is just not knowing and it's your job to ask and learn," the senior from Hart County High School, said. "I think you can find that in any job, in any field. If you don't know something, ask. That's exactly how I came into music. I didn't have experience. I just asked."

Two Dawson County High School tuba players attended: Will Murray and Will Bean.

"This is a good opportunity to show me what is happening in college music, and how college students work through their day," Murray said.  "It could open new opportunities for my tuba playing. I'm not sure what I want to do in the future, but I would love to keep playing tuba."

Bean is considering a career as an aerospace engineer or following in his dad's footsteps and becoming a firefighter.

"I'm glad my dad told me about this event," Bean said. "I'm glad that I got the opportunity to play with college students, be taught by professionals and learn new things."

The day was also an opportunity to reunite Brown and friends.

Trumpet player Ben Burford, from North Paulding High School in Dallas, Georgia, knew Brown from private lessons.

"I had a good time," Burford said. "It was a new experience. I hadn't gotten to work with a lot of small brass groups before."

Burford said he plays in marching band, jazz band, show choir, and concert band. He wants to pursue a degree in music education.

"It felt very nice getting to meet some of the other trumpet players here, so that way if I decide to come here, it’s not like I won't know anybody," Burford said.

Marie Douglas, who composed "The Winner’s Circle," the final piece, attended the concert, having flown in from Los Angeles, California. She had been very curious about how it was coming across to the audiences of the ensembles that had performed it prior, she said, adding that Brown and his group were "fantastic performers of my brass ensemble piece."

"I loved that there was a large brass choir performing the work because that is precisely as I intend for it to occur," Douglas said. "I was honored to have esteemed professionals in our field performing on the work, as ̨Íåswag horn professor Dilon Bryan played alongside his students. It was wonderful. I was glad to return to my home state and hear beautiful, welcoming sounds."

Earlier in the day, Brown was recognized by the Atlanta Federation of Musicians (AFM) Local 148-462 Organizing Task Force for his work as an educator. He was nominated by CJ Yeager, his student.