The Alice M. Ditson Fund of Columbia University established the Conductor’s Award in 1945. It is the oldest continuing award honoring conductors for distinguished contributions to American music. Previous recipients include David Zinman, Alan Gilbert, George Manahan, Leonard Bernstein, Cliff Colnot, Marin Alsop, Oliver Knussen, James Baker, Brad Lubman, Vimbayi Kazaboni and Timothy Weiss.
Paul Moravec, Columbia University DMA and Alice M Ditson Fund Committee member, will present the award to Freeman Brown at a concert on April 19th at 3:00 pm in Kobacker Hall on the campus of Bowling Green State University in Bowling Green OH. Moravec says of Freeman Brown "Maestro Brown's creative activity on behalf of American music and her commitment to the highest standards of artistic excellence have shone throughout her career. She has championed the works of hundreds of American composers up to the present day. Notably, she has prepared and conducted orchestral concerts for the Bowling Green State University Annual New Music Festival over the past thirty-six years. She has curated and produced nine albums of contemporary American music on the Albany label, titled The Voice of the Composer: New Music from Bowling Green, a leading resource for the promotion and dissemination of contemporary American music."
Ms. Brown has recorded for Naxos, Linn and Opus One Records, including eight disks on Albany Records with the Bowling Green Philharmonia under the title The Voice of the Composer; New Music from Bowling Green that have been widely heard and featured in an internationally syndicated radio program under the same name. In addition to her book Dr. Brown has published articles in the BACH journal and the Journal of the Conductors Guild. She served as President of the Conductors Guild and continues as a member of the advisory board. The first woman to receive a doctorate in orchestral conducting at the Eastman School of Music, Ms. Brown has appeared as conductor with orchestras in the United States, Europe, Asia and South America.
