Dr. Kellie Brown has been a member of the Milligan University music faculty since 1998 and holds the positions of Chair of the Music Department, Professor of Music, and conductor of the Milligan Orchestra. Dr. Brown is a frequent clinician and performer throughout the country and serves as the assistant conductor and associate concertmaster of the Johnson City Symphony Orchestra.
As a soloist, Dr. Brown has performed several world premieres including An Encounter for Violin and Piano by Jane Perry. She has also conducted numerous world premieres including Genesis by internationally renowned composer Kenton Coe. Her passion for and expertise in musical theater has made her in demand throughout the region as violinist, conductor, and music director.
Dr. Brown is a highly knowledgeable and respected teacher who has impacted thousands of music students from preschool age to adult during her 30-year teaching career. She remains a committed arts advocate in the community and is the recipient of numerous awards for her teaching and contributions to the arts, including the 2023 Arts Achievement Award from the Arts Alliance of the Mountain Empire, the Outstanding Teaching Award from the Tennessee Governor’s School of the Arts in 2011, and the Bristol YWCA Woman of the Year Award for the Arts in 2009.
In addition, she is a gifted writer who has published research on a variety of topics including violin performance practice and pedagogy. As an internationally recognized authority on music during the Holocaust, Dr. Brown has spoken frequently at academic institutions and conferences such as the American String Teachers National Conference, the College Orchestra Directors Association International Conference, the Christian Fellowship of Art Music Composers National Conference, and the Rosen International Holocaust Symposium. Her book, The Sound of Hope: Music as Solace, Resistance and Salvation during the Holocaust and World War II, was released by McFarland Publishing in 2020 and has received both national and international acclaim, winning one of the coveted Choice Outstanding Academic Title awards. In their review of this book, The Washington Post has declared that she “…has succeeded admirably in bringing together in one volume so much important research.” She is currently working on a new project about music and hope for Oxford University Press that will release in 2025.
She studies music education at Furman University and graduated summa cum laude with a Bachelor of Music Education degree from East Tennessee State University. She holds a Master of Music degree in Violin Performance and Pedagogy from Appalachian State University and a Doctorate of Education degree from East Tennessee State University.
Dr. Brown has a deep faith that comes from a rich spiritual heritage which includes generations of Methodist ministers including her great-great grandfather who was a circuit rider. In addition to over 30 years serving in music ministry, she is a certified lay minister in the United Methodist Church through which she serves in roles of preaching, liturgist, and in leading a spiritual writing group. Her faith is integral to her teaching at Milligan where she leads services and guides students in their personal spiritual formation and in their faithful use of music as followers of Christ.