Introducing Copeland Artist, Brandon Gordon!

This past July, Brandon Gordon was named as our first official Copeland Artist! Originally from Louisiana, Brandon has an impressive resume and an amazing clarinet ability, and we are so proud to have him on our ambassador team. Check out his guest blog post and be sure to follow him on social media!

As a young Black man from South Louisiana, I grew up attending church every Sunday. From the moment I was able to speak, I wanted to be in the choir stand with my mother and other family members. My love for music was instantaneous, and I never looked back. Once I was old enough to sit behind a drum set, my passion for creating music truly took off. I was only seven or eight years old when I began playing drums regularly for church services. Soon, I was performing not only at my home church but at various congregations across South Louisiana, as family and friends frequently reached out to my mother to see if I was available to play.

In Louisiana, formal music classes did not begin until middle school (sixth through eighth grade). When my middle school band director visited my primary school for instrument testing, I was incredibly excited. Although we weren’t allowed to start on percussion in the sixth grade, I didn’t mind at the time. After testing my options, I was told that if I joined the band, I would be a flute player.

I eagerly anticipated my first day of middle school band, but everything changed when I walked into the room and saw all my friends sitting together in the clarinet section. I noticed an empty seat near them with a folder labeled with another student’s name. I sat down, took out a pen, scratched out the other name, and wrote mine. It was a wonderful first semester, though it was the only one we spent all together, as many of them quit shortly after. Regardless, I stayed, enjoying my growth as a student and participating in district honor bands.

Entering high school, I looked forward to new experiences like marching band and All-State. At that point, I was adamant about finally joining the percussion section. However, my band directors, Patricia Roussel and Nicole Izzo Mlynczak, both clarinetists themselves saw something in me and refused to let me switch, despite my many attempts. When they shut down my “drumline dreams,” I asked to switch to oboe or bassoon for the concert season, but I was met with a firm “no.”

During my freshman year, I began taking private lessons with Dr. Kate Young while she was pursuing her DMA in Clarinet Performance at Louisiana State University. I recognize that private lessons are a great privilege; however, my family was not in a financial position to afford them regularly. If it weren’t for Dr. Young’s willingness to teach me weekly for only $10 a lesson, I would not have had that vital musical push. When she finished her work at LSU, she passed her studio to Dr. Sam Schreiber, who continued to teach me at the same rate. During my senior year and college audition season, Dr. Schreiber even offered me an additional free hour each week if I could make it to the LSU campus.

I began college in the fall of 2017 at Southeastern Louisiana University (SLU), studying under another role model, Mr. Victor Drescher. During my time there, I grew leaps and bounds. Because SLU is a smaller school, I was able to sit in ensembles alongside the department’s top players. I won the school’s concerto competition three times: my freshman year, performing Weber’s Concertino with Victor Drescher conducting; my junior year, with Weber’s Clarinet Concerto No. 1; and again my senior year. I eventually performed the opening movement of the Mozart concerto during my first year of graduate school.

I began my Master of Music at LSU in the fall of 2022, studying with Cecilia Kang. Those two years passed quickly, but I soaked up every bit of knowledge and experience offered to me. It was at LSU that I truly discovered the direction I wanted my career to take. The classical music world is small, and seeing people who look like me within it is even rarer. Following my time at LSU, I relocated to the Northeast to study with Dr. Maureen Hurd and Mark Dover at theRutgers Mason Gross School of the Arts. Being in close proximity to New York City and Philadelphia has allowed me to begin making a name for myself.

I have leaned into performing and advocating for underrepresented musicians. My most recent solo performance was a passion project entitled “From the Bayou to the Big City,” a celebration of Black composers. My next solo recital, entitled “Anti-Tokenism,” will take place on May 4th. Given my journey, when I entered the market for new instruments and experienced Jonathan’s products and his philosophy toward instrument making, I knew instantly that this was the right partnership. I did not come from a privileged background, but I know that I can make an impactful contribution to the world of classical music. I feel deeply that the horns I play can stand alongside any of the “big names” in clarinet making. I am blessed to work with a team that shares my passion for making the highest quality of music and craftsmanship accessible to everyone.