B.M., Arizona State University; M.M., Manhattan School of Music; oboist, U.S. Army Band; substitute oboist, New York Philharmonic Orchestra. Lorrie Berkshire-Brown is currently a member of Pershing’s Own, The United States Army Band, in Washington, DC, and served as oboist, for the New York Philharmonic (substitute), under conductors such as Zubin Mehta; Eric Leinsdorf; Charles Dutoit; Helmuth Rilling; and Joel Levy. Ms. Brown travels extensively as a clinician throughout the United States and abroad, logging appearances in more than 13 countries and on 4 continents, including guest residencies at Kiev, Lviv, and Odessa Conservatories in Ukraine.
She has also performed with Washington Philo-Musica; the Grand Teton Music Festival (under Ling Tung); Philharmonia Virtuosi (under Richard Kapp); the American Composer’s Orchestra (under Dennis Russell Davies); The Stravinsky Project (under Robert Craft); the Hudson Valley Philharmonic; the New York Virtuosi; and the American Chamber Orchestra; as well as for the Percy Grainger Society’s Carnegie Hall Series. She can be heard on numerous soundtracks including, National Geographic’s Explorer; Escape from Pompeii (the soundtrack to the theme park ride); and Secrets of the Ocean Realm (the PBS series); as well as on National Public Radio and on broadcasts from the National Gallery of Art.
In August 2005, she was invited to be a member of the Oxford Round Table on Women’s Leadership, held at Oxford University in U.K., and in 1998, the Virginia Governor’s School recognized her as one of Virginia’s “Outstanding Educators”. She is the Northern Virginia Co-Coordinator for The United States Army Band's Partners in Education initiative, which provides mentors to public school music programs. Ms. Brown also co-produces an annual children's concert series, Musical Stories for Children of All Ages, which combines music, art, dance, literature, and history into a multi-media interactive live performance.
Currently completing her Ed.D., in Education Leadership, she holds an M.M. from the Manhattan School of Music (where she was a student of Joseph Robinson and Tom Stacy of the New York Philharmonic), and a B.M. from Arizona State University (where she was a student of Frank Stalzer). Other private teachers included, Alfred Genovese and Laurence Thorstenberg of the Boston Symphony; Peter Smith of the Philadelphia Orchestra; and flute legend Julius Baker. Her long-term coaches have included artists such as John Mack of the Cleveland Orchestra; Stephen Maxim of the Metropolitan Opera; Baroque specialists, Kenneth Cooper and Louis Bagger; and Roland Horvath of the Vienna Philharmonic in Austria.
Before joining the Music Department at GMU, Lorrie Berkshire Brown was the Associate Instructor of Oboe at the Manhattan School of Music, and held faculty positions at the University of Vermont; The Vermont Conservatory for the Arts; and at Johnson State College. She is an authorized repair technician and artist representative for T.W. Howarth of London.