Today we’d like to introduce you to Kayson Brown.
Hi Kayson, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
Growing up, I always loved music. My parents never had to make me practice, but I didn’t really think of it as a viable career option. After high school, I served a two-year mission in Europe for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. There I learned that the greatest thing in the world is inspiring other people. I figured my life’s mission was to try to inspire other people so I would either become a seminary teacher or a conductor. Music has been such a powerful influence in my life that it has been really natural for me to use it to help empower the next generation. After graduating from BYU with my Master’s Degree in conducting I was hired by a local music school to do a youth orchestra. At the request of a local youth group who used the Lyceum name, we started a small orchestra program after school. Within a couple of years it was getting a lot of attention. When the music school closed in 2008, we moved to American Heritage School. Now, Lyceum Youth Orchestras is one of the largest youth orchestra programs in the nation. With 12 ensembles in Salt Lake and Utah County, this after-school community youth program welcomes students from more than 100 schools along with dozens of homeschool and online learners.
We all face challenges, but looking back, would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
All journeys in life, both musical and otherwise, require some dissonance. The more dissonance usually the grander the resolution and the more powerful the journey. Think of a great Beethoven Symphony or an epic fantasy book like The Lord of the Rings. Well, we have certainly had our bumps along the way. Our initial sponsoring institution failed suddenly in the 2008 recession leaving us homeless. That ended up being a great blessing because it led to our current home at American Heritage School. COVID-19 was hard on everyone but it was especially hard on schools and arts institutions. In our case, we learned to create media that has helped us to reach a worldwide audience. We now have eight commercial albums on streaming and are reaching hundreds of thousands of listeners almost every month. Now there is an entire new list of challenges as we expand our program to downtown Salt Lake City, but one day soon, I’m confident that the blessings we see to the students, community, and program will be miraculous.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
LOVE music MORE is my mantra. This world needs MORE LOVE. Our youth need MORE LOVE. Music is an incredible way to bring MORE LOVE into the world. It has a unique power to flow over and around the boundaries teenagers are such experts at putting up. No matter how hard the heart, the music we try to make finds a way to communicate soul to soul. It’s powerful. So how do I try to accomplish that?
I use a lot of famous mentors — The Piano Guys, David Archuleta, Nathan Pacheco, Lexi Walker, GENTRI, Laura Osnes, Vocal Point, Jenny Oaks Baker, and a long long list of other industry leaders willing to inspire the next generation.
We create a lot of new music — we all love the orchestral masterworks and Lyceum plays a lot of them, but what makes us different is all the new music we bring into the world including hymns, patriotic oratorios, classical crossover, movie and video game music. If it will help a teenager to love music more than we’re playing it! I write a lot of the music but I also collaborate with the top composers and arrangers including Kurt Bestor, Sam Cardon, David Stillman, Shane Mickelsen, and we even work with composers commissioned by the Utah Symphony. The result is a lot of music you can only hear made by our talented youth. Which in turn, makes them influencers in all the best ways!
What were you like growing up?
I loved music (no surprise), but I also did sports. I was one of the captains of the Logan High wrestling team. I loved theater and was the lighting designer for the school productions. I was super active in my church and when I was 17, I baptized Daniele who became my wife years later. I had great friends and leaders that helped me stay out of trouble (or at least not get caught).
Contact Info:
- Website: http://lovemusicmore.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lyceumphilharmonic/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LyceumPhilharmonic
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/lyceumphil
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/user/LyceumPhilharmonic
