BIOGRAPHY

Dr. Brian Buckstead maintains a flourishing career as a violinist, violist, conductor, and educator, making significant contributions to the music world through extensive performances and teachings across the United States, Canada, Europe, and Asia.

 

Buckstead gave the world premiere performance of Latent Emotions for solo violin and symphonic wind ensemble by award-winning Spanish composer Oscar Navarro. Additionally, his performances of Pulse Aria and Achoo Lullaby, both works for solo viola and electronics by Stephen Andrew Taylor, were featured at the 2021 New Music Festival at Fort Hays State University and the 2023 College Music Society Conference. 

 

A passionate advocate for music by obscure, forgotten, and historically underrepresented composers, Buckstead boasts an extensive and eclectic repertoire as a performer and conductor. He has recently performed works by Einojuhani Rautavaara, William Grant Still, Joseph Bologne (Chevalier de Saint-Georges), Germaine Tailleferre, and Danny Elfman. In 2019, he released his first solo album, Forgotten Bériot: Virtuoso Opera Fantasies, featuring little-known works by Charles Auguste de Bériot. His follow-up album, to be released on the MSR Classics label, will feature music by Ignaz Brüll, a forgotten nineteenth-century Viennese Jewish composer.

 

A regular contributor to the American String Teacher's Association (ASTA), Buckstead frequently gives presentations at national conferences, covering topics such as the pedagogy of John Kendall, Arabic violin technique, and the diversification of orchestral repertoire. Buckstead has conducted extensive research on the teaching and philosophy of Kendall, a pioneer of the Suzuki Method in the United States. His dissertation, titled "A Maverick Pedagogue: The Teaching and Ideas of John Kendall," delves into Kendall's innovative methods and contributions to string pedagogy.

 

Brian Buckstead received his Bachelor of Music degree from St. Olaf College and his Master and Doctor of Musical Arts degrees from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. His principal teachers include Beatrix Lien, Charles Gray, Jennifer John, and David Perry. He has held teaching positions at various colleges and universities across Kansas, Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Canada, and is currently Associate Professor of Violin and Viola and conductor of the Hays Symphony at Fort Hays State University in Kansas.

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Brian lives in Hays, Kansas, with his wife, Numa Ali, and their son, Oliver.