Brian Dowdy
Program Director
Pronouns: he/him
bdowdy@composersforum.org
Brian Dowdy is a conductor, guitarist, and arts leader committed to supporting the work of living music-makers and enriching the lives of community members through programming that expands artistic horizons, amplifies a diversity of voices, and creates courageous, compassionate world citizens.
As Program Director, Brian oversees the McKnight Composer Fellowship and Visiting Composer Residencies, along with other programs and activations that support Minnesota-based artists. As both a performer and an arts administrator, Brian’s work centers the music of living artists, artists from underrepresented and marginalized populations, and artists whose work engages with the most pressing issues of our time. His conducting positions have included the Minnesota Philharmonic Orchestra, Journey North Opera Company, St. Cloud Symphony Orchestra, Mississippi Valley Orchestra, University of Minnesota Campus Orchestras, Richmond Symphony Youth Orchestra, and Sanctuary choir of St. Stephen’s Richmond.
Fueled by curiosity and playfulness, Brian’s more intimate collaborations explore a multiplicity of aesthetics, disciplines, and time periods. Such collaborations have included leading the Atlantic Chamber Ensemble in a night of 20 premiers inspired by Beck Hansen’s Song Reader; recording Lou Harrison’s rediscovered guitar trio, Elegy for Harpo Marx; conducting and singing for an album of plainchant and renaissance motets; and performing with members of Cantus in a modified, semi-improvised compline service performed inside James Turrell’s Sky Pesher at the Walker Art Center.
Brian studied at Oberlin College, the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, and the University of Minnesota. He holds degrees in conducting, guitar performance, English literature, and East Asian Studies.
Brian, his partner, and their son live, work, and play in the Twin Cities. When not making music, Brian can usually be found at the dojo practicing Aikido, the Japanese martial “Art of Peace,” or building, repairing, and riding all manner of bicycles.