Dr. Uzee Brown Jr. is a native of Cowpens, South Carolina. He is former chair of the Division of Creative and Performing Arts at Morehouse College and Executive Editor of GIA Publications’ Morehouse College Choral Series. He served as chair of music at Clark Atlanta University and Morehouse College, and for 12 years directed the historic Ebenezer Baptist Church Choir. His diverse career as educator, singer/performer, composer/arranger, and choir director has taken him to more than twenty-six countries on four continents. Uzee holds degrees from Morehouse College, Bowling Green State University, and master’s and doctoral degrees from the University of Michigan. He was voted Vulcan Teacher of the Year at Morehouse and is past president of the National Association of Negro Musicians. He has performed in several world premieres, including Joplin’s Treemonisha (Atlanta Symphony Orchestra) and the title role in Oliverio’s King Solomon (Emory University). He has appeared in numerous national and international performances of Porgy and Bess. Brown is co-founder of Onyx Opera Atlanta and founder and director of the Uzee Brown Society of Choraliers. 

In addition to writing music for two of Spike Lee’s movies, School Daze and Red Hook Summer, Brown has written works for NPR and the Atlanta Symphony, including a setting for orchestra and chorus of “We Shall Overcome” for Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s seventieth birthday. Uzee has received countless commissions, including works for the inaugurations of four Morehouse College presidents. His compositions have been performed internationally and in venues such as Lincoln Center, Carnegie Hall and the National Cathedral. Brown is currently a member of a number of musical and educational societies and fraternities.