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. Influence of Wendell P. Whalum

2. Growing up in Cowpens, South Carolina

3. Arranging Spirituals Well

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

4. Lesser Known Spirituals

5. Uzee Brown Society of Choraliers

6. Music and the Church

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

7. GIA Publications, Inc. and Accessibility

8. Prophetic Words for Today’s Morehouse Students

  • 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 Morehouse College.

9. We Shall Overcome with Atlanta Symphony

10. Ebenezer Baptist Church and the King Family

Recent Media Resources

Roadmap for the Rummage Sale: Latina/o Theology for Deconstruction and Reconstruction of Faith

“Deconstruction” is a popular term among young people who grew up in the Christian church. In this public lecture, Robert Chao Romero will consider the challenge of widespread deconstruction while offering a hopeful path forward. Expanding on Phyllis Tickle’s analogy of the church having a rummage sale of ideas every few centuries, Romero invites us to consider the contributions of Latina/o theology and the history of the Brown Church as valuable resources for reconstruction on the other side of deconstruction.

August 10, 2026 | 80 min video
Exodus Through Egyptian Eyes

Carmen Imes has spent the past fifteen years immersed in the book of Exodus, writing about it for both her master’s thesis and her doctoral dissertation. In this lecture, Imes will share some of the most paradigm-shifting insights she’s had while reading Exodus through an Egyptian lens. 

August 10, 2026 | 82 min video
My Own Beloved Psalm: A History of the Interpretation of Psalm 118

Martin Luther frequently called Psalm 118 as his “own beloved psalm,” describing it as a “friend who helped [him] out of many troubles.” This session provides a history of the interpretation of this beloved psalm by looking at the readings of Ambrose, Augustine, Theodoret of Cyrus, Cassiodorus, Luther, and Calvin.

August 7, 2026 | 77 min video