About the Conductor
Brandon’s composing honors include first prizes in the WITF-FM's 25th Anniversary Composition Contest, the El Dorado Sacred Music Composition Contest, Franklin and Marshall College’s Wind Ensemble Composition Contest, the New England String Ensemble Composition Competition, the Quadre Composition Competition, the Hillcrest Wind Ensemble Composition Contest, and the Bassoon Chamber Music Competition. He has received commissions from organizations that include the Boise Philharmonic, York Symphony Orchestra, the Twentieth Moravian Music Festival, the Arizona Commission on the Arts to compose the band composition celebrating the Arizona Centennial during 2011-12, and the 2018 Thor Johnson Memorial Commission from the Delta Omicron Foundation. He received Honorable Mention in the 2016 American Prize for chamber music composition and has had live and broadcast performances of his throughout the United States and abroad, including performances by the United States Army, Navy, and Air Force Bands. His music is recorded by the Czech National Symphony Orchestra on the Albany Records Label and the Philharmonia Bulgarica and the Kiev Philharmonic on the ERM Label.
Brandon has authored two books on music: A Composer’s Guide To Understanding Music in 2005 and Dr. B’s Music Practice Guide in 2015.