Title: Musician, Educator, Professor Emeritus
Company: Aaron Copland School of Music, City University of New York
Location: Wilton, Connecticut, United States
Allen Brings, DMA, Musician, Educator and Professor Emeritus at the Aaron Copland School of Music at the City University of New York, has been recognized by Marquis Who’s Who Top Educators for dedication, achievements, and leadership in music education.
A widely renowned pianist and composer, Dr. Brings has always felt connected to music, and endeavors to help others find the same passion. Since 1963, he has served as a professor of music at the Aaron Copland School of Music at Queens College of the City University of New York, where he also coordinated the theory and ear training program. He now holds the distinguished title of professor emeritus. Additionally, he has long been active with the American Society of Composers and with the Weston Music Center and School of Performing Arts.
Over the years, Dr. Brings has enjoyed many professional triumphs, including twice serving as the chair of the eastern region of the American Society of University Composers, earning an ASCAP Award each year since 1975. He received the John Castellini Silver Jubilee Award from the Choral Society of Queens College in 1983, and he was awarded an Individual Artist Grant by the Connecticut Commission on the Arts in 1988. He is the co-author of “A New Approach to Keyboard Harmony,” and has published numerous articles in professional journals. From 1957 to 1959, he served as a member of the U.S. Army. He has published compositions for orchestra, band, chorus, a wide variety of chamber ensembles, piano, organ, harpsichord, guitar, and voice, and he has recorded numerous records with Genevieve Chinn through Centaur Records, Orion Master Recordings, and Composers Recordings, Inc. Having composed hundreds of pieces, he is particularly proud to have composed “Sinfonia da Camera,” “Symphony,” “Trio,” “Five Pieces for Piano,” and “Tre Sonetti.” His most recent composition is “Trialogue” for flute, viola and piano, which was completed on October 4, 2018. For a complete list of all of Brings’ available compositions together with their scores go to library.newmusicusa.org/allenbrings. For all of the recordings of his music that have been released or re-released on the Navona label go to parmarecordings.com.
Dr. Brings prepared for his endeavors by obtaining a Bachelor of Arts, magna cum laude, from Queens College of the City University of New York in 1955, a Master of Arts from Columbia University in 1957, and a doctorate in musical arts from Boston University in 1964. At Columbia, he was a Mosenthal Fellow and a student of Otto Luening, and at Boston University, he was a student of Gardner Read. He furthered his education at Princeton University as a Naumburg Fellow under Roger Sessions. Dr. Brings is a member of such professional organizations as ASCAP, The Society of Composers (SCI), The National Association of Composers/USA (NACUSA), New Music USA, Connecticut Composers, Inc. (CCI), The College Music Society (CMS), The Long Island Composers Alliance (LICA), and The Christian Fellowship of Art Music Composers (CFAMC) among others.
When Dr. Brings isn’t working, he enjoys tennis and ballroom dancing.
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