Brian is an educator, administrator, composer, arranger, and clinician who frequently appears at festivals, conferences, universities, colleges, and high schools both nationally and internationally.
He is Co-Founder and Vice President of the International Society of Jazz Arrangers and Composers and has served on the International Executive Board for the International Association for Jazz Education. He is Past-President of the Michigan Association for Jazz Education and was a decade long faculty member at Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp. For 26 years, Brian served as Professor of Music at Hope College where he founded and directed the Jazz Studies Program. Among his many leadership positions at Hope College, Brian chaired the Music Department and led the planning and development for the institution’s $35,000,000 state of the art concert and learning facility.
As a composer, his works have been commissioned and performed by professional ensembles, universities, and high schools throughout the United States. As a performer, he has been seen on stage with a diverse array of artists, including; Al Jarreau, Eric Reed, Ravi Coltrane, Roberta Flack, Melissa Manchester, Jermaine Jackson, Bobby Shew, Marvin Stamm, Gary Foster, the O’Jays, Pia Zadora, Jeffrey Osborne, Susan Anton, Mac Davis, Lorrie Morgan, the Ladd McIntosh Big Band, the George Stone Big Band, and the John Cooper Jazz Orchestra to name a few. He has also performed with the National Touring Companies of Dream Girls, How to Succeed in Business, The Will Rodgers Follies, Guys and Dolls, Teddy and Alice, and the Radio City Music Hall Rockettes.
He is the author of numerous music reviews, articles, and book chapters and for nearly a decade maintained a regular column in the Jazz Education Journal. He currently serves as an adjudicator for the GRAMMY Foundation. He is listed in Marquis Who’s Who in America and is the recipient of numerous grants and awards, including the N.I.S.O.D. Award for Excellence in Teaching and the Hope College Janet L. Andersen Award for Excellence in Teaching. He received a Bachelor of Music Degree in Trumpet Performance from the University of South Florida, a Master’s Degree in Instrumental Conducting from California State University at Northridge, and a Doctorate in Instrumental Conducting from Michigan State University. He lives in Chicago, IL with his wife Debbie and has two grown children, Molly and MacKenzie.