Music

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My first memory is of music. My mother would play music all the time and whenever she turned it off, I’d cry ‘tune!’”

- Bree Newsome

MUSICIAN

Bree Newsome was introduced to formal piano lessons at the age of seven and started writing music that same year.

She wrote music for her middle and high school bands and orchestras even before her first formal lesson in composition at the renowned Peabody Conservatory at age 13. A year later, her six-part choral piece, “Revelation 21:4,” was performed by the Baltimore Choral Arts Society. Bree was awarded the coveted Paderewski Medal from the National Piano Guild and won a $12,000 scholarship in the vocal arts portion of the Maryland Distinguished Scholars Competition.

Bree is currently developing an extended performance piece, a portion of which was performed at the Monticello Summit in 2016. The Monticello Summit was a four-day public summit on the legacy of slavery and freedom in America held at the site of Thomas Jefferson’s former plantation. The event was a collaboration between the Thomas Jefferson Foundation, the National Endowment for the Humanities and the University of Virginia. Restoration Village Arts provided an artist residency for Bree while she wrote, produced and recorded the music for the performance piece. Bree then produced and directed the performance, collaborating with Joyemovement Dance Company from Greensboro, NC.

Awards & Honors

2003

Paderewski Medal for Piano

Maryland Distinguished Scholars for Voice