Leah Brown is Lydians' new artistic director

Dr Leah Brown is the new artistic director of The Lydian Singers.

In this senior artistic position, Brown has responsibility for the development of the overall artistic vision of the Lydians and the concept, theme, and visual imagery of all The Lydians’ concerts and productions, a media release said.

The Lydians said this is the first of many developments for the year as the group seeks to evolve within the sphere of the local cultural landscape.

Brown is a singer, educator, writer and composer. She graduated summa cum laude from Talladega College and subsequently received an MA from Morgan State University and a DMA from the University of Connecticut. Her research interests include the music of African-derived religions in the Caribbean and their use in ritual healing, the release said.

She has presented papers at the Carifesta 2019 Symposium, Jumbie Revolution: Healing Communities through Performance; IAFOR 2015 Conference, Healing Sounds and the Orisa of Trinidad and Tobago; and College Music Society National Conference Earthtones: Exploring Cultures through Song, 2012 (co-presenter: Dr Mary Ellen Junda).

In the field of musical theatre, Brown received a Cacique award for Best Original Score for Dansé and wrote music for the Immortelle Theatre’s Waves of Hope. Jumbies, her first full-length musical play, debuted in June 2018 and formed part of a presentation, Jumbie Gone Global: Performing Resistance in TT Culture at a Research Forum and Symposium in Barcelona in August, 2018.

She is head of the Voice Studio and teaches ethnomusicology and a course titled Music Drama Performance at the Academy for the Performing Arts (APA) at the University of TT.

Brown is founder and chairman of the board of AGAPE – All Girls Alliance Percussion Ensemble. She is also a member of the TT chapter of Caribbean Women in Leadership (CIWiL), an independent NGO established to monitor, strengthen and increase women's political participation and leadership in the region through advocacy, networking, research and capacity building initiatives.

Brown has an executive graduate certificate in social entrepreneurship, cultural agency, community development, business management and teaching artistry from the Global Leaders

Programme (GLP), where she is doing an MBA in arts and innovation.