BJ Brooks
Biography
BJ Brooks (b. 1975, Portales, New Mexico) is an American composer and educator.
Dr. Brooks was guided in his early piano compositions by his piano teacher, Cheryl Pachak-Brooks, and was later instructed in large ensemble techniques by band director and arranger Pat Henry. He spent five years in DCI as a member of the Troopers Drum & Bugle Corps as well as an age-out member and tour director of the Blue Knights Drum & Bugle corps of Denver, Colo.
Dr. Brooks holds a bachelor's degree from Eastern New Mexico University, a master's degree from West Texas A&M University, and doctorate from Texas Tech University. He was instructed in composition by Dr. Jon Jonsson, Dr. Stephen Duncan, Dr. Norman Nelson and Dr. Peter Fischer.
He has composed hundreds of works for ensembles, solo performers and the electro-acoustic medium. His music is enjoyed by a wide range of performers, from military bands to beginning ensembles around the world. His scores have been honored with numerous awards, has been included as educational material at several universities, is included in the acclaimed book series Teaching Music Through Performance in Band, is found on several repertoire lists including Texas’ PML, and has been featured at numerous conventions such as TMEA, TBA, CBDNA, The Midwest Clinic, and the International Society for Contemporary Music. BJ is an active clinician and adjudicator with concert ensembles and marching bands across the Southwest. A complete listing of his band works is located in The Heritage Encyclopedia of Band Music.
Dr. Brooks is associate professor of music theory and composition at West Texas A&M University in Canyon, Texas.
Works for Winds
- Bonnie Banks o' Loch Lomond (2009)
- The Butterfly Chaser (2016)
- Cadence (2009)
- Caprice (2013)
- The Centennial March (2010)
- Cold Fusion (2015)
- El Símbolo Zía (2012/2018)
- Endurance
- The Essence of Memory (2022)
- The Freshman
- Legacy
- Persist (2020)
- Phoenix (2011)
- The Standard: ENMU 75th (2010)
- Strange Loops (2022)
- Symphony No. 3 (2019)
- The Tempest's March
- The Wild Atlantic Way (2020)
- The Willows of Winter (2005)
- Windrider (2007)
Resources
- BJ Brooks, personal correspondence, March 2017
- "Dr. BJ Brooks." West Texas A&M University. Accessed 14 September 2023
- Octotone Accessed 21 January 2020
- Schallert, Gary. "The Willows of Winter." In Teaching Music through Performance in Band. Volume 6, edit. & comp. by Richard Miles, 256-260. Chicago: GIA Publications, 2007.