Brad Rees

Brad Rees, Dean for the School of Creative and Media Arts, conducts University Choirs, directs the award-winning a cappella ensemble Up in the Air, and teaches voice, music theory, music production & engineering, and music business. A leader in contemporary a cappella and vocal jazz education for two decades, Brad has served as the Assistant Director of Jazz Studies at the University of Northern Colorado, on the faculty at Iowa’s School for Music Vocations, and on the jazz faculty at Bowling Green State University.  A frequent clinician at vocal music festivals across the US and Canada, he is a regular judge for ICCA, ICHSA and show choir competitions throughout the Midwest, and has served on the faculty of Halewyn Jazz Workshop in Belgium and many other summer workshops and camps.  His ensembles have appeared across the United States and Canada, at the Salzburg Music Festival in Austria, at the United Nations in New York and Geneva, and on tour in the Republic of China, Germany, the Czech Republic, and South Africa. His choirs have also performed on several national TV broadcasts.  His own performing credits include appearances with Ben Folds, Bobby McFerrin’s Voicestra, Joe Williams, George Shearing, African gospel artist Rebecca Malope, and others. He sang with the Grammy-nominated vocal jazz quintet, The Axidentals, with Phil Mattson’s Voices, and in residence at the Smithsonian Institution. Brad holds degrees in choral conducting, voice, music education and public relations, and is an alum of Boston University, the University of Northern Colorado, Western Michigan University and George Mason University. He has served in leadership positions for the Ohio chapters of IAJE and ACDA, and his compositions and arrangements are available through UNC Jazz Press and TiffinMusic Publications.