James Armstead Brown
Founder & Chief of Music Education
He oversees and advances the organization's music education initiatives. He design, implements, and leads innovative music programs for a wide range of audiences, including students, educators, and community members. He works collaboratively with internal teams, external partners, and stakeholders to ensure that the organization’s music education offerings are impactful, inclusive, and aligned with the organization's mission and vision.
Bio
Armstead Brown, born and raised in Long Island, NY, touched down in Pittsburgh in 2002 and has been an innovator in the city’s arts & culture scene ever since. In 2004 he co-founded the regionally acclaimed hip-hop fusion medley band Eviction Notice and held down a 7-year residency as bandleader and keyboardist for the Shadow Lounge open mic house band, Hambone Jenkins. In 2007 Brown co-founded Rhyme Calisthenics and led an event team in the production of over 50 RhymeCal events across the tri-state, securing corporate sponsorships and providing a platform for over 90 emcees to showcase their skills in the endangered art of freestyle. As a beatmaker and producer, Brown has production credits with a number of regional artists and released his own soulful, sample-laden hip-hop album, Fieldwork, in 2008.
For nearly two decades Brown served as Director of Creative Youth Development for the YMCA of Greater Pittsburgh’s Lighthouse Project where he led a team of teaching artists, guiding hundreds of youth in the creation of their own albums, mixtapes and music videos. In 2016 he spearheaded a 1.5 million dollar capital project to establish a teen art and media center with a full service community recording studio, production lab and digital collaboration space in the historic black community of Homewood. The recording studio continues to be a space of intergenerational community-building offering audio apprenticeships, recording services, open labs for teens and music entrepreneurship programs.
After two decades empowering youth through access to industry standard digital tools, Brown switched it up, joining the leadership of the Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy as Director of Education. In this role Brown supports a team of naturalist educators and stewards a bevy of school and community based partnerships, helping thousands of children create connections to the outdoors and care for the environment. Alongside this environmental education work, Brown has the pleasure of producing outdoor park events at the intersection of nature, wellness, culture, community and music.