Stephen P Brown

Music Done Differently

Stephen P Brown
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  • String Quartet 2 by British American Conductor Composer Stephen P Brown
    Articles

    #PsalmQuest 11 – String Quartet 2

    It feels like forever since I published a #PsalmQuest piece, and I guess it was, really – over a month ago! In fact, I finished composing that last piece at the end of September, so it’s really been 8 weeks. Some of that time was spent resting, but much of it was actually spent re-writing. This was a difficult piece to extrapolate from the recesses of reality and it saw several completely written-out ideas before I hit the ‘delete’ button on the whole lot. But it’s here now, and it has quite a story to it, methinks… String Quartet 2 (actually, the title was bothersome for quite some time as…

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    The sun and our world might be shrinking, but the universe is getting bigger.

    How to Lose Friends and Infuriate People 3/3

    August 5, 2020
    Conductor Composer Stephen P Brown share an insane fact about music

    17 insane (but probably true) things about music

    August 2, 2013

    The Last “Substance Leader” – Nelson Mandela

    December 6, 2013
  • Conductor Composer Stephen P Brown's "Bagatelle for violin"
    Articles

    Next Piece #7: Bagatelle for Violin

    This was a surprise! In my 7 year composition quest, piece #6 took a little over a month to write. This one took a day. Yes. One day! Solo violin It helped that the piece was being written for just one instrument alone, which is a complete contrast to Warrior Peace. Another contrast is the style: actually, I’m not too sure where this style came from but it is clearly a “contemporary” piece. I followed my usual system for composing music based on the psalms (Steps 1 & 2 I’ve already shared with you, and step 3 is coming soon) and after composing the closing melody, decided the piece was…

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    Me and my Dad on my wedding day in NJ

    Five times I should have listened to my Dad

    February 17, 2020

    Don’t forget emotional health!

    July 7, 2020

    #PsalmQuest 10 – Mirror 2 for solo harp

    October 11, 2013
  • Articles

    Do you ‘wing it’?

    Setting up a plan of action really does seem to work, wouldn’t you agree? As the Psalm Setting Quest was formulating, for fun I figured out a way to determine in which order I would use the psalms to compose music to. A few columns, sorts and ranking formulas were added to a spreadsheet and “voilà!” an evenly mixed distribution of each psalm type. There’s actually one psalm type (Prophetic) that has just one psalm in it and I know this ranking system works when that psalm (#50) appears right in the middle of the list, as the 75th piece of music I will write. An added benefit of using…

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    Next Piece: A Brass Mirror

    May 31, 2013
    British American Conductor Composer Maestro Stephen P Brown Psalm Piece 4 Wind Quintet Classical Music

    Next piece: Wind Quintet 2

    June 28, 2013

    Don’t forget emotional health!

    July 7, 2020
  • Articles

    Psalm 19 Poll

    Should my next piece of music be composed for just violin and viola, or should I include a soprano as well? [polldaddy poll=”7072357″] For more information about this 7-year project, click here.

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    Letting down the whole team by staying in our comfort zones

    Letting down the whole team by staying in our comfort zones

    September 26, 2021
    Walking away doesn't solve anything and is really infuriating

    How to Lose Friends and Infuriate People 2/3

    July 29, 2020
    What do musicians actually do? The ability to process emotions

    What do musicians actually do? The ability to process emotions

    July 25, 2021
  • Articles

    Another Absolutely Best Of!

    I’m working on some project documents and listening to Classic FM’s David Mellor (ex-Member of Parliament and even Cabinet member) enthusiastically share his top 20 classical music recordings of 2012 – both new and re-released. Sometimes it’s quite fascinating, especially Max Richter’s rewriting of Vivaldi’s famous Four Seasons violin concertos, two very different versions of Rachmaninoff’s beautiful Symphony No.2 even though the different albums won in different categories, and even Cole Porter’s “Let’s Do It” by Alexandre Tharaud. Yes, I’m just as confused as you. (Amazon affiliate links) Well, I’ve never been much of a fan of “Top” or “Best of” lists, even though it is clearly a marketing gem and seems…

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    Givers and takers: which kind of performer are you?

    October 3, 2021

    Exploit those fridge visits!

    April 13, 2020
    Me and my Dad on my wedding day in NJ

    Five times I should have listened to my Dad

    February 17, 2020
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Conductor Stephen P Brown
“There’s more to music than music!”

Greetings!

Hello! I'm Stephen P Brown and I help musicians accomplish far more than they ever thought possible. I do this by sharing my experience and insights as a conductor, composer and teacher through concerts, workshops and coaching. You are very welcome to find out more about me!
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