Adam F. Brennan

Dr. Adam F. Brennan has been director of bands and professor of percussion studies at Mansfield University since 1995. The Mansfield University Music Department, now known as Commonwealth University of PA – Mansfield, is recognized as one of the finest in the State of Pennsylvania. Dr. Brennan has served as Chair of the Music Department for six years and has held other administrative responsibilities involving assessment, leadership development, and strategic planning while at Mansfield University. In addition, he is the founder and conductor of The Great Lakes Wind Symphony, a professional wind-band, and is co-founder and co-owner of AllThingsBand.com, a web-based publishing company owned by B&P Music Productions. An accomplished composer, conductor, author, drill designer, and performer, Dr. Brennan remains a much sought-after clinician and guest artist.

Dr. Brennan received his Bachelor of Arts degree in music education and a Master of Arts degree in theory and composition, with an emphasis in composition, from Western Illinois University. He earned his Doctor of Musical Arts degree in instrumental conducting from the University of Oklahoma where he studied with Dr. William K. Wakefield.

Dr. Brennan has recorded numerous compact discs with the Mansfield University Bands including Strike Up the Bands!, This Could Be the Start of Something Big, Music From the Endless Mountains, Tenebrae, which features the world premiere of Dr. Brennan's composition for band entitled Tenebrae (Dark Hours), American Portraits, North Central Winds, Concord!, Resonance, Sun and Shade, Critical Speed: The Music Of Greg Danner, Volume II, The Music of David Holsinger, Vol. 12, Ecstatic Vision, High Upon the Eatern Hill, Gusto! Friends, Rhapsodies and Musical Relish, Amazing Wond on Symbol, Music of the Spheres, and The Music of Composer Adam F. Brennan. Since 2013 Dr. Brennan's recordings with the MU Wind Ensemble have yielded the status of Grammy Eligible for Nomination in twelve different categories. Dr. Brennan can also be heard as a percussionist on Twilight Offering Music released by the University of Oklahoma Percussion Ensembles, and as a conductor on Western Illinois University's Fantasy Variations. His compositions and recordings can be found on www.allthingsbands.com. Dr. Brennan recently co-authored a conducting text to serve basic conducting, instrumental conducting, and rehearsal techniques courses, entitled Making Meaningful Music; Building Techniques, Critical Thinking, Interpretation, and Leadership in Conductors through Sentia Publishers.

Dr. Brennan's responsibilities include administrating the band program, coordinating the instrumental conducting program and conducting the Concert Wind Ensemble, the school's top wind and percussion ensemble. Dr. Brennan also directs the Marching Band, The Spirit and The Pride of Pennsylvania! where he writes all musical arrangements and coordinates the staff. In addition to these ensembles, he teaches courses in percussion techniques and instrumental conducting, as well as music theory and composition lessons. Dr. Brennan has also served as the percussion ensemble arranger and pit ensemble consultant for the World Champion Empire Statesmen Drum and Bugle Corps, was caption head of the DCI Class-A 60 Champion Northmen Drum and Bugle Corps, and was the artistic director and arranger of the International Marine Tattoo of Rochester, New York. He is five times a past president of the Pennsylvania Collegiate Bandmaster's Association and has been involved in sixteen world premieres at Mansfield University. He has received numerous invitations to state conventions to present papers, clinics and performing ensembles, and is actively involved in commissioning projects both locally and regionally.

From 1989-1995, Dr. Brennan was Associate Director of Bands and Percussion at Western Illinois University. Prior to this, he served as Director of Bands at Kankakee Valley High School in Wheatfield, IN. An active composer and clinician with over 150 arrangements and compositions and over 200 guest conducting and clinical engagements, Dr. Brennan travels extensively serving as guest conductor and clinician at festivals and conventions. In November of 2005 Dr. Brennan was awarded The Silver Baton from Kappa Kappa Psi for having maintained a record of excellence and continuous quality of service to bands band members, and instrumental music education. In April of 2003, Dr. Brennan received Mansfield University's Bertram Francis Award from Kappa Kappa Psi for outstanding contributions to the MU Band program. In October of 2002 he was honored by Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia with the Orpheus Award for significant and lasting contributions to the cause of music in America and in 2007 he was elected for membership in the prestigious American Bandmaster's Association. He was nominated for and received the Employee of the Year award from Mansfield University in 2010 and was presented with the Presidential Coin of Distinction at MU in 2016.

Dr. Brennan's compositions span a variety of media, including concert band/wind ensemble, orchestra, percussion ensembles, steel pan bands, marching band (originals and arrangements), jazz bands, and chamber ensembles. A partial listing of his compositions includes (available through AllThingsBand.com):

Concert Band/Wind Ensemble

• Tenebrae (Dark Hours)
• An Olympic Year
• Festival and Fanfare
• Malachi: Celebration of a Special Life
• Lifted
• Resonance
• Requiem and Celebration (with SATB Choir)
• Symphony No. 1
• Suite for a Bandsman
• Red, Black, and Gold! (with String Orchestra and Male Chorus)
• Dream
• Explosion!
• Fantasia
• There Will Be Justice
• For Love of Country
• Traditions
• Tag! You're it!
• Dolce Mi Amour
• Alla Marcia
• Pavanne For Freedom
• Sempre Dolce (Waltz for Coco)
• Us, We, Them.

Dr. Brennan's professional memberships include the College Band Director's National Association, the Music Educator's National Conference and the Pennsylvania Music Educator's Association, Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia National Music Fraternity, Tau Beta Sigma and Kappa Kappa Psi Band Fraternities (honorary member), and the Autism Society of America. An advocate for autistic children, Dr. Brennan is actively engaged in promoting autism awareness and educational rights for special needs children and serves on the Board of Directors for the Tioga County Autism Coalition (TASC). Dr. Brennan resides in Wellsboro, Pennsylvania with his wife and their six children.