SIMON BROWN
WESTFIELD – The Westfield State University Foundation has partnered with alumnus Simon Brown ’11 of Great Barrington to create a musical composition honoring Westfield State University founder Horace Mann. “Pieces of Horace Mann” will have its inaugural performance on Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. on Dever Stage.
Brown, a music teacher at the Austen Riggs Center and the Berkshire Music School, was commissioned by New York philanthropist Jonathan Madrigano to create an original composition last summer. Simon approached Bob Plasse, development officer at the Westfield State University Foundation, to link his composition to his alma mater. Plasse, who had previously worked with Brown to create the Festival of New Music, which has helped composers from around the country have their work heard, was happy to resume their partnership.
“It has been such a pleasure and gift to have reconnected with Simon, who really is passionate about the world of new music,” Plasse said “How wonderful it is to have been allowed on this journey with Simon and our talented music department administration, professors, and students to bring Simon’s creative work to the concert stage.”
Madrigano serves as the benefactor for the $10,000 commission and Brown’s partnership with the university allowed him both to write a composition about Westfield State and debut it at his alma mater.
Since Westfield State University concluded its 175th anniversary celebration last spring, Brown and Plasse felt the composition should pay homage to the university and its founder. Included in the piece is Mann’s famous quote, “If ever there was a cause worthy to be upheld by all of toil or sacrifice, it is the cause of education.”
Written for the university’s wind symphony with parts for the chorale, “Pieces of Horace Mann” references Mann’s life, including his championship for human rights.
“The musical form of my piece serves as a metaphor for Horace Mann’s life and legacy,” Brown said. “The beginning is dark and vicious, the middle is contemplative, and the end is glorious but questioning. I imagine this as the dark times he was born into, his birth of the American school system, and the times we live in now.”
Brown said though the piece has some dark elements, including a deep depiction of slavery with the sound of a whip, he assures that the composition is overall uplifting.
“Even through the dark, terrible, intense music, there can still be a message of strength,” Brown said.
Brown said he is still having a hard time fathoming that he was paid a commission to write about Westfield State.
“To receive a commission on this level is unreal,” Brown said.
Though still processing, Brown is happy to give back to a university that helped him so much.
“The university fostered my creativity,” Brown said.
Brown almost didn’t get the chance to attend Westfield State. When he toured the school, he had missed the initial application deadline, but Andrew Bonacci, associate professor of music, went out of his way to ensure Simon was able to enroll.
“I recall being impressed with Simon’s ability to think big, and fearlessly imagine ideas outside of established artistic practice,” Bonacci said. “I knew that Westfield would be a great place for Simon to explore and develop his craft as a composer, and that his creative spirit would help to inspire other students to innovate and conceptualize music in new and exciting ways.”
Years later, Bonacci stands by his decision to take a chance on Brown.
“I appreciate Simon not only for his dedication to his music as an artist, and for his many contributions to the university as a student, but also for his continued commitment to Westfield State as a proud alum,” Bonacci said.
Brown has built a reputation as an active member of the local community in the Berkshires. He spent two years at Kids 4 Harmony, Western Massachusetts’ first El Sistema-inspired program, as their first cello teacher, then as the first site director. Brown taught strings, chorus, baby choir, music theory, composition, and improvisation for this intensive after school program.
Plasse said Brown serves as a model alumnus of the university.
“Westfield State University is a thriving learning community, which includes alumni who are doing wonderful things in their communities,” Plasse said. “Simon’s career as a musician reflects that of so many of our graduates, who take what they have learned at Westfield State and apply it to professional lives of quality which also benefit others.”
In the final weeks before the debut of his musical compsotion, Brown said he is eagerly anticipating the concert.
“Westfield will always hold a special place in my heart, and it’s an honor to walk through the doors of Bates Hall and have my teachers give me their congratulations with real pride on their faces,” Brown said.
Simon Brown’s “Pieces of Horace Mann” will end Act 1 of the Westfield State University Wind Symphony Concert, Tuesday, April 28 at 7:30 p.m. at Dever Stage in Parenzo Hall on the university campus. It is free and open to the public. For more information visit: www.deverstage.com.
