Keith Brion
Keith Brion
Keith Brion is currently a free lance conductor of professional bands and symphony orchestras. Professional bands include Mr. Brion's own New Sousa Band which is now actively touring. He has been a frequent guest conductor of the Goldman Band, the Allentown Band and the Stockholm Symphonic Wind Orchestra. He has also appeared with the United States Marine Band, the United States Army Band, the Army Field Band, the West Point Band, the U.S.Army Ground Forces Band and Band of Europe and the United States Coast Guard Band, as well as the Royal Swedish Navy Band. His university appearances have included the bands of the universities of Texas, Ohio State, Florida State, Michigan State, Iowa, Iowa State, Illinois State and Kentucky, as well as frequent clinic performances.
Mr. Brion has led his own New Sousa Band, a nationally selected ensemble, since 1986. The band has toured all over the United States, including special concerts presented by the Minnesota Orchestra in 2000 and the Seattle Symphony in 2002 and has also appeared in a Japanese tour in 1996.
He has led his popular Sousa revival concerts with almost all of America's major and regional orchestras including the Boston Pops, and the Symphonies of Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, St. Louis, Houston, Atlanta, Utah, and Milwaukee. He has conducted other popular programs with such orchestras as the Florida Orchestra, Rochester Philharmonic, San Jose Symphony and San Diego Symphony as well as leading Sousa with Canadian orchestras in Vancouver, Edmonton, Winnipeg and Hamilton. His overseas engagements have included the London Concert Orchestra, New Zealand Symphony, and the Gothenburg Symphony.
Mr. Brion has appeared in a PBS TV special "The New Sousa Band On Stage at Wolftrap", and the PBS-TV 90 minute special "If You Knew Sousa". He has role in a Sousa TV show on BBC Channel Two. His recordings include the Original-All-American-SOUSA! with his New Sousa Band for Delos Records, the Sousa Legacy for Bainbridge Records, recorded with the Rochester Philharmonic and the New Sousa Band, To the Fore!, the Wind Band Music of Percy Grainger with the Michigan State Wind symphony on Delos, and "Star Dawn", the wind Music of Alan Hovhaness with trombonist Christian Lindberg and the Ohio State Concert Band on Delos. Mr. Brion has also recorded “Stars, Stripes and Sousa “, with the Washington Winds for Walking Frog Records. Mr. Brion is now recording extensively for the Naxos label, including three volumes each of the orchestral music of Sousa and Victor Herbert and a Percy Grainger orchestral issue “The Power of Love”. In the summer of 1999 he began to record a series of sixteen CD’s of the complete Sousa band music with London’s Royal Artillery Band, also for Naxos. Eight volumes have been recorded. He has also just completed a new recording of three wind symphonies by Alan Hovhaness with the Wind Orchestra of the Royal Scottish Academy in Glasgow and trumpeter John Wallace. Hovhaness Volume II, completing the seven Hovhaness wind symphonies is scheduled for January ’08 with London’s Trinity College of Music Wind Orchestra.
Mr. Brion began his career as a vocal and instrumental teacher in the East Brunswick, New Jersey schools where he started the music program. He served for six years as band director at Newton, New Jersey High School. From 1963-1972 he was supervisor of music with the Caldwell-West Caldwell Schools, Director of the North Jersey Wind Symphony, while serving as an adjunct teacher of flute of the Montclair State and William Paterson Colleges, and as curator of the Percy Grainger collection at Upsala College. He performed regularly as a flutist with the New Jersey and New Haven symphonies. From 1973-80, he was director of bands at Yale University, leading the Yale Band in concerts at the Kennedy Center, Carnegie Hall, and an all-Ives program at Amsterdam's Concertgebouw. From 1998-2000 he served as interim band director at San Jose State University.
Mr. Brion has published numerous editions for band including the music of Charles Ives, Percy Grainger, J. Bodewalt Lampe and D.W. Reeves, plus over thirty critical performance editions of the music of John Philip Sousa.
