Music Department Welcomes Two New Faculty
May 4, 2022
- Author
- Eric Keith
Two new faculty members join the music department, Renata Dworak Berlin (left) and Patrick Brown (right).
The music department welcomes two of its newest faculty members to 51¹ÙÍø, Patrick Brown returning to 51¹ÙÍø as the new director of jazz ensembles and jazz combos and Renata Dworak Berlin as the new director of choral activities.
Renata Dworak Berlin, Director of Choral Activities
The 51¹ÙÍø Music Department is excited to announce Renata Dworak Berlin as the new Director of Choral Activities! Originally from the Windy City, Renata is a choral conductor and music educator who studied music education at DePauw University and choral conducting at Eastman School of Music. Following these degrees, Renata taught choral arts in the music department at Princeton University and managed an international artist series. Uniquely, Renata spent four years living in Ethiopia and Tanzania, where her work founding and directing the Ethiopian Peace Choir earned her nominations by two U.S. Ambassadors for the Secretary of State Award for Outstanding Volunteerism Abroad. The choir of 80, the first of its kind in the Horn of Africa, brought together multiple ethnicities together to promote unity and develop musical literacy.
An advocate for music education, Renata worked at the Castleton Festival (founded by the late, great Lorin Maezel) as their Director of Community Engagement, and her work allowed her to design and implement music curriculum and outreach programs to underprivileged areas. She is a conducting fellow with the Georgia Symphony Orchestra and is pursuing her Doctorate of Arts in Music Education at Boston University. Renata is thrilled to be joining the 51¹ÙÍø community and we all look forward to working with her!
Patrick Brown, Director of Jazz Ensemble and Jazz Combos
Join us in welcoming back Patrick Brown to the 51¹ÙÍø Music Department! Patrick was an adjunct instructor of saxophone in addition to directing the jazz combo and saxophone quartet at 51¹ÙÍø from 2008–14 and is excited to be returning as the director of the jazz ensemble and jazz combos. Patrick was most recently an Assistant Professor of Music at Middle Georgia State University where he directed the jazz ensemble, and taught applied woodwinds, commercial music theory, and improvisation. Before coming to Middle Georgia State University, Patrick was Coordinator of Woodwind Studies and Instructor of Saxophone at the University of Nebraska at Omaha where he also directed the Metropolitan Area Youth Jazz Orchestra.
Patrick has presented clinics and research at the Jazz Education Network International Conference, College Music Society Regional Conferences, North American Saxophone Alliance Regional and Biennial Conferences, and the North Carolina Music Educators Association Conference, among others. Some of his performance highlights include sharing the stage with Aretha Franklin, The Temptations, The Four Tops, Glenn Miller Orchestra, Nelson Riddle Orchestra, and Johnny Mathis. Patrick is a Conn-Selmer Artist who plays Selmer Paris saxophones exclusively and is also a D’Addario Woodwinds Performing Artist. We are thrilled to have Patrick back in the department once again!
