Claudia Brown is a singer and conductor from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. At UB, she directs the choral ensembles and teaches voice and choral conducting. She began teaching voice and strings privately in 2011 and has held leading roles in opera and oratorio productions in the U.K. and U.S. She recently graduated with a Masters of Music in Choral Studies from the University of Cambridge, where she studied conducting with Stephen Layton, Graham Ross, and Mark Williams, among others. In Cambridge, she was a member of King’s Voices, the mixed-voice choir of King’s College, where she sang weekly Evensong in King’s College Chapel, as well as the Chapel Choir of Robinson College, which she directed in weekly services. As a frequent soloist with these choirs, she toured with them in the Netherlands and France. Claudia has studied with some of the U.K.'s foremost conductors and served as chorus manager for two professional opera companies in Cambridge.
Interested in the interplay of music and theology, Claudia explored this relationship in her research at Cambridge under the supervision of theologian Jeremy Begbie. Her thesis examined perceptions of musical aesthetics in choral music. Other recent areas of research include theology of Evensong liturgy and the exploration of time in Messiaen’s music.
Prior to studying in the U.K., Claudia completed a Master of Music in Vocal Performance at Duquesne University, where she held leading roles in opera productions and co-founded a Chamber Opera group. Following her undergraduate studies, Claudia served in full-time music ministry for four years as the Assistant Director of Worship & Arts at Memorial Park Church in Pennsylvania, where she led worship, directed vocal and instrumental ensembles, and founded a youth choir and orchestra.
Passionate about the cross-cultural impact of music, Claudia has toured and worked with musicians in Germany, Honduras, Malaysia, and the Philippines. From 2011-2012 she served as a volunteer in Kerala, South India with Young Adult Volunteers through the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), where she taught music to students grades K-12 and courses at CMS College, Kottayam, including a voice training class for faculty and a course for area choir directors. She has directed choirs in a variety of locations around South India.