Meet Anthony Brandt

We had the good fortune of connecting with Anthony Brandt and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Anthony, is your business focused on helping the community? If so, how?
Musiqa impacts the Houston community in a multitude of ways. Our free educational programming has served close to 70,000 public school students at over 250 Houston area schools. For many of these students, our Hobby Center field trip is not only the first time they’ve attended a live concert, it’s the first time they’ve visited Downtown. Meanwhile, our in-school composition lessons have enabled high school students to explore their musical creativity. Each year, at least one student tells us that they now want to major in composition in college–the most uplifting affirmation we can get.

Thanks to its two great music schools, Houston is now home to a broad community of freelance musicians. Musiqa helps to support that eco-system by giving these players work in our concerts at the MATCH, Museum of Fine Arts, the Hobby Center, Miller Theater, and other venues around town. In addition, we regularly collaborate with other Houston artists, including dance companies, poets, filmmakers, and more.

A unique feature of Musiqa is we are involved in scientific research: we designed the curriculum for an NEA Research Lab studying the effects of musical creativity on seniors with mild cognitive impairment; and we’ve collaborated on pioneering experiments with the University of Houston’s BRAIN Center in which several performers wear mobile brain-imaging equipment during the rehearsals and performance. This work is contributing to our understanding of how humans behave and interact and the promise of arts-based interventions.

Finally, an innovative city is propelled by innovative art. We know from neuroscience that brains construct an internal model of reality, which helps us navigate the world by making it more predictable. The arts help ensure that internal model is always under construction–thereby opening minds and laying the groundwork for forward-looking thinking.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
One feature of my work is that I greatly enjoy collaborations. I’ve worked with neuroscientist David Eagleman on the oratorio “Maternity” and book “The Runaway Species: How Human Creativity Remakes the World,” with playwrights Will Eno and Neena Beber on several chamber operas, with artist Jo Ann Fleischauer and composer Chapman Welch on several art installations, and more.

In recent years, I’ve partnered with Dr. Jose Luis Contreras-Vidal, choreographers Andy and Dionne Noble, and multimedia artist Badie Khaleghian on several ground-breaking combinations of artistic performance and scientific experiment, In these works, several performers wear caps that measure the electrical activity in the brains, with live visualizations of the data. The scientists are studying both intra- and inter-brain synchrony. These projects are significant because they are among the first real-world neuroimaging studies. They also help showcase how much scientific information is embedded in art. We recently performed “Meeting of Minds” for two dancers and live and recorded string quartet at the United Nations’ “AI for Good” Summit in Geneva, Switzerland. I find these projects–in which I contribute to science as a composer–particularly fulfilling, and I’m excited that Musiqa’s performers are involved in this work.

In addition to composing, I’m an active researcher: I’m involved in several studies involving music and seniors with mild cognitive impairment, surgeon burnout, and creative movement. Dr. Contreras-Vidal, Badie Khaleghian and I were recently in Bali, conducting the first mobile brain-body imaging and neurochemistry studies of gamelan music and dance.

I owe a great debt of gratitude to my major teachers, Mel Powell at California Institute of the Arts and Earl Kim at Harvard. Mel was a master of teaching principles that could apply to any style. Earl was a role model of being true to oneself at all costs.

One lesson I’ve learned along the way is that the best problems to have are the ones you’re responsible for solving. Whenever I encounter an obstacle, I try to figure out how much of the problem I can own–that’s more enpowering than leaving it to other people.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
I’m a huge fan of Brazos Bend State Park. Thanks to its freely wandering alligators, a visit there is a combination of a nature walk and James Bond movie. Memorial Park is a surprisingly vast urban nature escape, and Buffalo Bayou has been transformed into a beautiful walking park. The new Commons at Hermann Park may be the most beautiful civic park I’ve ever seen. The Rothko Chapel and Menil Gallery are must-see cultural treasures. I’m always happy to see the Astros at Minute Maid Park. The MATCH and Zilkha Hall are particularly appealing performance venues. As a vegetarian, I’ve got a soft spot for Local Foods; and my whole family loves Happy Hour at Sushi Wabi at Richmond and Wesleyan.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
I’d like to give a shout out to Musiqa’s staff: Executive Director Tony Barilla and Development Director Chelsea Smith. In the fall of 2019, Musiqa faced a near catastrophe: both of our staff left for other jobs. No one knew of course that the pandemic lay just around the corner. Without expert staff, Musiqa likely would have perished. Fortunately, Tony and Chelsea came on board. Somehow, we made it through the pandemic in better shape than we were before. Under their leadership, we’ve expanded our collaborations and support for new work, increased audience turnout, grown our educational programs, co-founded the Cross-Country Consortium to serve composers from underrepresented groups, and more. In prior years, we used to struggle mightily to plan our season even a few months in advance. Now we are thinking two years ahead. All of us in Musiqa are deeply grateful for Tony and Chelsea’s vision and dedication.

Website: musiqahouston.org

Instagram: @musiqahouston

Linkedin: @musiqahouston

Twitter: @musiqahouston

Facebook: @musiqahouston

Youtube: @musiqahouston

Image Credits
Photograh of Anthony Brandt by Claire MacAdams Photographs of Musiqa by Lynn Lane