Published on
June 16, 2020
Video length
38 mins
Listen to this March 11, 2020, conversation between Uzee Brown, Jr., legendary composer and educator, and John D. Witvliet, held during a visit to Calvin University.

10 Video Clips 

Below are video clips (link on each title) from the half-hour conversation, highlighting key periods in the formation and life of Dr. Uzee Brown. Dr. Brown joined the faculty in 1973 and currently serves as Chair of the Division of Creative and Performing Arts at Morehouse College. He holds a Bachelor of Arts from Morehouse College, a Master of Music in Composition from Bowling Green State University, and a Master of Music and Doctor of Musical Arts in Voice Performance from the University of Michigan.

He has received numerous composition and arranging commissions ranging from National Public Radio and the Atlanta Symphony to colleges, universities, church and civic organizations, and his compositions have been heard throughout the world, including Lincoln Center and Carnegie Hall. His engagements include master classes, workshops and recitals of African-American music from work songs and spirituals to art songs. Additionally, Dr. Brown served for several years as the director of the historic Ebenezer Baptist Church Choir.

1. 

  • Wendell P. Whalum was the director of the Morehouse College Glee Club. Read more about and . 
  • ."

2. 

  • Uzee Brown, Jr. grew up in Cowpens, South Carolina. He speaks about the spirituals “”&Բ;“," and writing an arrangement of the song “” which was later used in the Spike Lee movie School Daze.

3. 

  • On the importance of arranging a spiritual so that it brings the multi-layered text to life.

4. 

  • Learn more about and .  
  • ."

5. 

  • Uzee Brown speaks of his belief that functional music is an expression and reflection of life and that it can be both prophetic and healing.
  • Read about Holocaust survivor .
  • and .

6. 

  • The unique gifts of music in the church and the role of music in the worship experience.

7. 

  • . has published Uzee Brown and a wide variety of other artists' compositions.

8. 

  • Dr. Uzee Brown challenges current Morehouse College students about creating or working for something that has a greater global impact on spirituality and a cultural unity. Learn more about .

9. 

  • In commemoration of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s 70th birthday, Uzee Brown was commissioned to write an arrangement of “We Shall Overcome.” It premiered on January 18, 1999, with the Atlanta Symphony.  
  • ."

10. 

  • Dr. Brown shares about his work at Ebenezer Baptist Church and the legacy of the King Family.
  • Read more about and the .

Recent Media Resources

Podcast History
Jared Ortiz on the Dramatic Nature of the Nicene Creed

Jared Ortiz, professor at Hope College, Holland, Michigan, describes the Nicene Creed as a dramatic and powerful statement where every word is like a declaration of war, saying yes to the truth and no to many falsehoods. 

May 21, 2025 | 38 min listen
Podcast History
Jane Williams on the Nicene Creed as a Creative and Exciting Description of Who God Is

Jane Williams, professor of theology at St. Mellitus College in London, England, sees the Nicene Creed, crafted 1700 years ago, as an extraordinary creative and exciting description of who God is and therefore what we trust in as Christians in God's world. 

May 21, 2025 | 26 min listen
Podcast History
Maria Eugenia Cornou and Mikie Roberts on the Doxological and Historical Significance of the Nicene Creed

Maria Eugenia Cornou and Mikie Roberts serve on a planning team for an October worship event in Egypt to mark the 1700th anniversary of the Council of Nicaea and the ecumenical creed that emerged in the year 325 and remains firmly embedded in the worship practices of the church today. 

May 21, 2025 | 36 min listen