Composer Gregory W. Brown’s works have been performed across the United States and Europe — most notably in Weill Hall at Carnegie Hall in New York City, Cadogan Hall in London, and the Kleine Zaal of the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam.
Brown’s cantata un/bodying/s was premiered by two-time Grammy winning Philadelphia choir The Crossing in June 2017 and released on Innova Records. This 35-minute work for 24 voices uses new texts by poet Todd Hearon and focuses on issues of displacement and ecology around the creation of the Quabbin Reservoir.
In 2020 he went into the studio with Variant 6 to record Fall and Decline for six solo voices and electronics. That recording is available now on digital platforms and on vinyl in late 2021.
His commissions for two-time Grammy nominees New York Polyphony have been heard on American Public Media’s Performance Today, BBC Radio, Minnesota Public Radio, Kansas Public Radio, and Danish National Radio; his Missa Charles Darwin received its European debut in March 2013 at the Dinosaur Hall of Berlin’s Museum für Naturkunde.
Brown’s 2015 CD of original choral and vocal works — Moonstrung Air — was Q2’s Album of the Week for Feb 16th, noting that “[Brown’s] command of transcendent sound is constant…the pieces ring like higher-power-bells, those of science, faith and the human voice.” Missa Charles Darwin was recently re-issued in a special edition to coincide with the publication of his brother’s new novel — Origin — in which it makes an appearance.
Voces Tallin’s recent disc A Black Birch in Winter features three pieces by Brown; This disc won the Annual Music Award of the Estonian Culture Endowment for 2019. Other recordings include releases on the Innova, Parma/Navona, Acis, and Albany labels.
For the 400th anniversary of the city’s founding, The Music Hall and Portsmouth (NH) Symphony Orchestra commissioned Brown to write a major cantata for orchestra, chorus, soprano soloist, and narrator. The piece, titled At This Point, utilized new texts by Todd Hearon and premiered in November 2023. John Page conducted and Jamie-Rose Guarrine was the soloist.
Art song has become a big part of Brown’s output, with performances at Lyric Fest, Philadelphia Chamber Music Society, and with Calliope’s Call.
Current and recent commissions include works for Variant 6, Grammy-nominated Skylark Ensemble, Malta Philharmonic Orchestra, Constellation Mens Ensemble (Chicago), Ensemble Nobiles (Leipzig), Boston Choral Ensemble, soprano Mary Hubbell (USA), contralto Kristine Gether (Denmark), countertenor Geoffrey Silver (UK), and others.