Robert E. Brown
Robert Edward "Bob" Brown
Brown grew up in Clinton, New York. He had a very extensive background in music while still young. He played timpani and bass drum in a band, double bass and cello in the school orchestra and accompanied the school chorus on piano. A sponsor enabled him to study music theory at the Utica Conservatory with Johannes Magendanz and study piano with Clara Magendanz. He performed the first movement of the Schumann piano concerto with the high school orchestra during his sophomore year.
The same year, he held the job of
Bob Brown started his doctoral studies at
Brown began teaching at Wesleyan University in 1961.[5] He founded the world music/ethnomusicology program at Wesleyan. It was here that Brown first used the term "world music" to describe the ethnomusicology program.
Bob Brown followed the philosophy advocated by Mantle Hood, who could be considered the father of
Brown was one of the organizers of the American Society for Eastern Arts (ASEA). In 1973, Brown founded the Center for World Music. He remained president of the organization until his death. Thinking about how much musical experience was available to him in high school motivated him to start the "Music in the Schools program" for the Center for World Music.
Brown began teaching at San Diego State University in 1979. He served as the Chair of the School of Music for three years from 1979 to 1982. He retired in 1992. Brown also was the owner of Girikusuma or Flower Mountain, a center for traditional Balinese performing arts located in Bali.
In 2006, The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign announced that Brown had bequeathed his extensive collection of instruments, recordings, books, paintings and artifacts and to the school's world music center. The Robert E. Brown Center for World Music, which opened in April 2008, was named in his honor.[6]
Recordings
Brown produced five of the early recordings from Indonesia in the "Explorer Series" released on
- Bali: Gamelan Semar Pegulingan
- Bali: Music from the Shadow Play, music from a wayang performance
- Ketawang: Puspawarna, to represent Southeast Asia. He also recommended the recording "Jaat Kahan Ho" in Raga Bhairavi by Surashri Kesarbai Kerkarfor inclusion on the Voyager disc, since he believed it to be the finest recorded example of Indian classical music.
- Java: Court Gamelan, Volume II (1977)
- Java: Court Gamelan, Volume III (1979)
References
- ^ "Brown, Robert E. (Robert Edward) (1927-2005) : University of Illinois Archives". Library.illinois.ewdu\accessdate=16 January 2015.
- ^ "Robert E. Brown; brought world musicto San Diego schools - The San Diego Union-Tribune". Signonsandiego.com. Retrieved 16 January 2015.
- ^ "New Classical Tracks: Lively Baroque Fusion". Minnesota.publicradio.org. Retrieved 16 January 2015.
- ISBN 9781452283029. Retrieved 16 May 2016.
- ^ Getter, Joseph M. "Navaratri and Indian Music at Wesleyan". Archived from the original on 2007-08-17. Retrieved 2009-04-25.
- ^ Mitchell, Melissa. "World Music Center at Illinois to celebrate grand opening". Retrieved 2009-04-25.