Donna Yvette Brown

Biography

Conductor, pianist, organist,
composer, arranger, entrepreneur

Donna Brown excelled in music as a child, beginning her studies at the age of 3. While in high school Ms.
Brown worked as the Director of Chapel Music for Craig Air Force Base. She also performed as an accompanist and student conductor for her High School Choir.
Ms. Brown attended Mount Holyoke College in Massachusetts as a National Achievement Scholar where she studied piano, organ, voice and conducting. Leaving Mt. Holyoke, she received her BM degree from The Julliard School in Lincoln Center, New York City as a conducting student of Abe Kaplan. She returned a decade later as a graduate student and teaching fellow under Richard Westenburg.
Ms. Brown has performed internationally as a pianist/musical director for Jeree Palmer, Ronnie Dyson, The Main Ingredients and many others. Ms. Brown was Assistant Artistic Director/Pianist for The Boys' Choir of Harlem. She has done numerous performances and shows around New York City including The Village Gate, The Peppermint Lounge, The Apollo Theater, The Grand Piano, The Cotton Club (new) and The Billy Holiday Theatre, to name a few.
As a Minister of Music and Church Organist, Ms. Brown has prepared and conducted Requiem by Mozart for the Roseville Concert Choir and Orchestra. She has prepared groups for performances of such classical pieces as LesNoces by Stravinsky, Messiah by Handel and Requiem by Verdi. She has founded several gospel groups including the Martin Luther King Singers, the Southern Baptist Voices of Praise and the Mount Holyoke College Gospel Choir.
Ms. Brown has done three tours throughout Europe as the Musical Director/Conductor of the Gershwin Gala, a beautifully staged show of the music of George Gershwin for Jazz Orchestra and singers.
Ms. Brown is the co-founder and Musical Director of The Black Gospel Pearls and The Golden Gospel Pearls. These groups have toured extensively throughout Europe since 1992. With her gospel groups, Ms. Brown has produced four gospel albums and one maxi single. The Golden Gospel Pearls, with over 400,000 fans, are famous for their annual Christmas Concerts in Berlin, Germany.
Ms. Brown has performed as arranger, pianist and conductor for Gayle Tuft's Soul Sensation Show in Berlin, Germany.
Ms. Brown has found great pleasure and artistic expressinon in entertaining in piano bars since the early '80. As a pianist/ singer, Ms. Brown has performed widely in such places as Manhattan, Philadelphia, Washington, D.C., Lucern, Gaastad, Montreux, Frankfurt, Stuttgart, Bremen, Dresden, Magdeburg, Baden-Baden, Hamburg and Berlin in some of "the most beautiful hotels". Ms. Brown is currently the featured pianist for The Ritz Carlton Hotel, Berlin.
Ms. Brown performs regularly with her group, Donna Brown and The Black Pearl Jazz Quartet emphasizing traditional jazz and blues styles. Ms. Brown has studied classical piano with Ethel Dinkins, Edgar Ziegler and Ronald Hodges; classical organ with Ethel Dinkins and Myrtle Reigier and Dennis Keene; jazz piano with Mickey Bass, Mike Logan and Reggie Moore; voice with Mr. Cumberland, Ann Ruckert, Barbara Christopher and Michael Dixon; conducting with Tamara Brooks, Abraham Kaplan and Richard Westenburg.

This resume is prepared to highlight Ms. Brown ́s capabilities and as a conductor, pianist, singer, arranger and composer.

Education
The Julliard School –
Lincoln Center, New York, New York-Graduate Student –Teaching Fellow in Choral Conducting-
Master of Music, pending
1971 – 1974 -The Julliard School Lincoln Center, New York, New York Bachelor of Music in Choral Conducting
1968 – 1971 - Mount Holyoke College, South Hadley, Massachusetts Major in Music (piano, organ, conducting and voice) 3 years – alumna

Conducting Studies with-
Perry Anderson, Georgia Black in high school
Tamara Brooks at Mount Holyoke College and private
Abraham Kaplan-The Julliard School
Richard Westenburg - The Julliard School – Graduate Studies and Teaching Fellow

Introduction To Music Production
Cousera verified Certification

Piano Studies with-
Ethel Dinkins, Edgar Ziegler, Ronald Hodges,
Jazz Piano Sudies with-
Mickey Bass, Mike Longo, Reginald Moore

Vocal Studies with- (contralto)
Georgia Black, Wendall Cumberland, Ann Ruckert, Barbara Christopher,
Michael Dixon

Organ Studies with-
Ethel Dinkins, Myrtle Rieger, Dennis Keane

Experience
Berliner Philharmonie – Grosse Saal and Kammermusikhalle
Annual Performances at The Berlin Philharmonie (Covid Interruption)
2010 - (First Concert)10. Ocrtober 2010 Concert at The Berliner Philharmoniker Kammermusiksaal with Donna Brown and The Black Pearl Jazz Quartet plus friends in memory of my mother Myrtle H. Brown.
2011 – June 11. Philharmonie Berlin - Jazz Artists Against Aids – Donna Brown and The Black Pearl Jazz Quartet
2019 – January 11 – Gospel Gala – Berlin Philharmonic
Jazz Artists Against Aids
Gospel Gala – Donna Brown (conductor) and Friends
Excerpts from Abyssinian mass by Wynton Marsalis

Hotel Piano Bar- Singer / Pianist

Donna Brown and Friends Trio – every Thursday at The Wine Bar – 6th Floor - KaDeWe since 2021
The Kaufhaus des Westens, abbreviated to KaDeWe, is a department store in Berlin, Germany. With over 60,000 square meters of retail space and more than 380,000 articles available, it is the second-largest department store in Europe after Harrods in London. It attracts 40,000 to 50,000 visitors every day

Pianist/Vocalist for The Curtain Club Bar in The Ritz Carlton Hotel Berlin and Restaurant Quarre in The Adlon Hotel Berlin – Taschenberg Palais, Dresden-the Hilton Hortel, Dresden, Nasser Hof, Wiesbaden, Villa Vita Rosenpark. The Bristol Kempinski Hotel, Lucern, Gaastad, Montreux Ritz, Frankfurt Kempinski, Stittgart Maritim, Bremen Maritim, Magdeburg Maitim, Baden-Baden, Bratislava, Berchtesgaden, Bad Sarrow, Sheraton Hannover, piano bars in Manhattan, New York

Harlem Gospel Nights Annual Christmas
Season-Berlin, Germany

Musical Director-Harlem Gospel Christmas Nights featuring Donna Brown and The Golden Gospel Pearls since concerts in Berlin-1994 to present...

Artists in Residence, Uncool- 2018-Paschiavo,
Switzerland
Donna Brown and Craig Holiday Haynes Duo – 3 performances in Switzerland and Italy.

Donna Brown and The Black Pearl Jazz Quartet 1998 to present

Dixie Company - Dixieland Band
Guest Singer to present

World’s Doctors Orchestra-2013
Performances at The Beethoven Fest and Berlin
Philharmonic
Guest soloist, pianist / singer

Publishing Companies
Recordings and Sheet music
Soul Of Berlin Publishing – GEMA - Germany
Music By Spirit Moves Publishers - BMI Soul Of Berlin Publishers - GEMA

Donna Brown and The Golden Gospel Pearls-Backgournd for Shakira with Wyclef Jean – World Cup Final 2006 – Berlin, Germany

A Tribute To Nina Simone - 2006

Nightclub show honoring the Late Great Nina Simone

Gospel Workshops
Teacher / Facilitator

Gayle Tufts ́ Soul Sensation Show
Musical Arranger/Assistant MD/Conductor/Pianist TIPI-Berlin, Germany and on tour

Black Gold – The Best In Black Music – 2008, 2009
Musical Director - Song and Dance Review with soul music mostly from the 70’s

Gershwin Gala European Tour
1989 - 1991 and 2015 - present
Musical Director / Conductor / Pianist
Gershwin Gala is a staged concert version of Gershwin popular tunes and excerpts from Porgy and Bess with a 14 piece jazz orchestra and 4 to 8 singers.

Movie and Video
The Golden Gospel Pearls have performed in the movie “Beyond The Sea” starring Kevin Spacey and videos starring Sarah Connor

The Boys’ Choir of Harlem 1979 – 1982.
Assistant Artistic Director –Various duties as conductor of the Girls’ Choir, rehearsal and performance pianist for Boys’ Choir, Director of the Educational component. Pianist for Choir during the Hannibal Peterson’s Angels of Atlanta European Tour 1982. Pianist for 2 White House appearances under the Reagan administration. Several performances of Amahl and The Night Visitors by Mernotti, Geoffrey Holder, Director

The Main Ingredients-recording artist
Keyboards / Musical Director for The Main Ingredients. Performances at the Apollo Theater, The Beacon Theater, Sands’ Hotel Las Vegas, Black Caucus Gala-Washington, D.C., Indiana Black Expo, Atlantic City and Canada.
New York Club Scene
Frequent performer at NY locations- The Village Gate, The Peppermint
Lounge, The Apollo Theater, The Grand Piano, The Cotton Club (new), The Billy Holiday Theatre and Symphony Space, to name a few.

Roseville Presbyterian Church
Musical Director/Conductor and Minister of Music-Roseville Presbyterian Church, Roseville Concert Choir and Roseville Orchestra - Newark, New Jersey (Instituted Concert Series which included Requiem by Mozart with full professional orchestra, Christmas Section of Messiah by Handel with orchestra. Also regular gospel concerts with band.

Ronnie Dyson, singer -star in the original broadway
production of HAIR - recording artist with Columbia
Records
Musical Director -numerous performances including opening act for Natalie Cole, and performance on The Merv Griffin TV Show

Jeree Palmer,singer
Musical Director for Jeree Palmer-opening act for such great stars as Joel Grey, David Brenner, Bill Cosby, Jerry Lewis, Phyllis Diller and The Spinners.

The Bronx Opera Company
Rehearsal Pianist for The Bronx Opera Company

Classical Works
Rehearsal pianist and conductor for performances of such classical pieces as Les Noces by Stravinsky, Messiah by Handel and Requiem by Verdi.

Broadway and Off-Broadway
Pianist for auditions and various shows in New York City Broadway and Off- Broadway including Sophisticated Ladies and Betsy Brown production at The Shakespeare Theatre, Joseph Papp - Tambourines To Glory”, Asst. Musical Director for “Prime Time”(Joyce Brown, Mus.Dir.) and “Golden Boy” starring Obba Babatundé among others.

National Achievement Scholar - 1968

Craig Air Force Base Catholic Chapel
1966-1968 -Music Director and Organist

Ms. Brown has performed in these countries
Austria
Belgium
Canada
Denmark
Finland
France
Germany
Hungary
Israel
Italy
Luxembourg
Morocco
Netherlands
Norway
Poland
Romania
Senegal
Sicily
Slovakia
Spain
Sweden
Switzerland
Ukraine
The United States Of America