Bethany Brinson

Bethany Brinson is pursuing an eclectic career as a pianist, composer, scholar, and educator.  She is currently a Ph.D. candidate and instructor in musicology at the Eastman School of Music.  Her research interest is sound art installation (immersive, site-specific artistic constructions with sonic components), particularly the motivations of 1970-‘80s artist-composers and audiences as well as current sound art trends.  She regularly presents her work at regional and national conferences.  Prior to her Eastman studies, she earned a B.M. in piano performance at Indiana University, studying with Norman Krieger.  Concurrently, she earned a B.A. in mathematics along with a minor in French.  During her IU career, she served as teaching assistant and tutor for the math department for five semesters (receiving the Undergrad Assistant Service Award).

As a pianist, she collaborates frequently with composers, singers, instrumentalists, and ballet ensembles, and has joined the collaborative piano staff at Nazareth University.  She is also a composer, and has written for a variety of ensembles as well as film scoring and electronics.  She has participated in a number of festivals, including the Brevard Music Festival, Bowdoin International Music Festival, and the Rebecca Penneys Piano Festival.  For her, what unites all of these musical activities is collaboration: she loves working with people—whether research colleagues, co-performers, or students—and making discoveries through collective music-making.  Outside of all things music, Bethany enjoys bird-watching, running, and drawing (sketching, painting, calligraphy, etc.).