Clark Atlanta University Selects First Female Band Director

TOMISHA BROCK

DIRECTOR OF UNIVERSITY BANDS
ASSISTANT PROFESSOR OF MUSIC
CLARK ATLANTA UNIVERSITY

ATLANTA, Georgia -- Clark Atlanta University (CAU) has named Tomisha Brock as Director of University Bands and Assistant Professor of Music. This historic announcement makes Brock the first woman to serve as band director and the first female director in the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SIAC).

“I am truly honored and excited to make history at CAU,” says Brock. “In a male dominated profession, it is a privilege for female directors to show that we are just as qualified, we can compete and produce on a large scale, as with Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs),” she adds. According to the HBCU National Band Directors Consortium, there are only five female band directors serving HBCUs across the nation serving as head director or as assistant/associate director.

Brock recently served as associate director of bands and assistant professor at Mississippi Valley State. Previously she served as director of university bands at Elizabeth City State University. “My goal is to provide holistic education through music, as well as excitement, creativity, and revitalization to the CAU band program,” says the 35-year-old. “Our students will understand the importance of music in their lives and the contributions music education has in creating the ‘total person.’ When students leave my program, they will possess valuable skills that will help market them in their careers wherever they go.”

Brock, who began singing in the church choir at six-years-old and playing the clarinet by age 10, has immersed herself in music her entire life. She earned a Bachelor of Music Education degree from Virginia State University and a Master of Music Education degree from Norfolk State University. She is pursuing her PhD in music education at The University of North Carolina at Greensboro. In 2016 Brock was named Spectacular Magazine’s 'Woman of the Year’, in the education category.

“Students who are involved in music and the marching band develop solid social skills. It provides them an avenue to express themselves, free from judgment,’ says the Virginia native. “It teaches and enhances the concepts of self-discipline, accountability, and team work.”

To schedule an interview with Tomisha Brock contact TBell@CAU.edu

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