VINROY D. BROWN, JR. holds credits in conducting, sacred music and music education. He is a member of the choral studies, music education and sacred music faculty at Westminster Choir College, where he conducts the Westminster Jubilee Singers and previously taught African American Choral Literature and in the Baccalaureate Honors Program. He was most recently a Lecturer of Music in the College of Communication & Fine Arts at Loyola Marymount University where he developed coursework related to music and social justice. A church musician, he is director of music & worship arts at Elmwood United Presbyterian Church. Maintaining an active conducting schedule, he is founder and artistic director of Elmwood Concert Singers and is artistic director and conductor of Capital Singers of Trenton.
A versatile conductor, among his conducted works includes the Vaughan Williams Mass in G Minor, Faure Requiem in D Minor, Vivaldi Gloria, Händel’s Messiah, Ellington Sacred Concert, Moore Scenes from the Life of a Martyr, Powell The Cry of Jeremiah, Forrest Requiem for the Living, Dove’s The Passing of the Year and Brahms Ein deutsches Requiem. Ensembles under his direction have been featured in radio broadcast at Princeton Theological Seminary, performed at the historic Playhouse at Rodney Square and members of his ensembles at Carnegie Hall and at the Centennial Convention of the National Association of Negro Musicians, Inc. in Chicago, Illinois.
In demand as a clinician and lecturer, Professor Brown has headlined the Voices United Choir Festival for the New Jersey chapter of the American Choral Directors Association and the Harlem Classical Music Festival. He has presented for the National Conference of the American Choral Directors Association, National Collegiate Choral Organization, New Jersey Education Association and for Virginia, Georgia, Illinois and Maryland Music Education Association Conferences. He has lectured at the University of Miami, Millikin University, Kutztown University, Princeton University, Yale University, Rowan University, The University of Delaware and The College of New Jersey. He was previously Guest Artist at Pennsbury High School, guest conductor of the Morris Area High School Honor Choir and presented for the Middlesex County Arts Institute. Brown served as Guest Conductor of the CJMEA Region II Intermediate Treble Chorus this academic year and will headline the Newark Public Schools Vocal Jubilee at Newark Symphony Hall this Spring.
A noted baritone, Brown has sung on concert and opera stages across the country, as both soloist and chorister. Among his most notable engagements were the filming two PBS specials with the Vienna Chamber Orchestra and New York Philharmonic. He made his New York Lyric Opera Theatre debut at Carnegie Hall performing scenes from Massenet’s Manon and Mascagni’s Cavalleria Rusticana. The world premiere of David Lang’s The Mile-Long Opera: a biography of 7 o’clock marked his debut with the Mile-Long Opera Company. He most notably served as Chorus Conductor of the world premiere performances of the opera OMAR by Rihannon Giddens and Michael Abels, which received the 2023 Pulitzer Prize for Music.
Professor Brown holds membership in the National Association for Music Education, National Alliance of Black School Educators, American Choral Directors Association, International Society for Black Musicians, National Collegiate Choral Organization and the National Association of Negro Musicians, Inc., for which he is Eastern Region Director and Chief Editor of EMERGENCE: Research & Performance Topics in Black Music, a scholarly publication which will be released this year. Brown is also a proud member of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. and Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia Fraternity, Inc. He holds the Master of Arts in Practical Theology degree from Regent University, and Bachelor of Music degrees in Sacred Music and Music Education from Westminster Choir College.