Brett Bawcum named Assistant Director of Bands

The Hugh Hodgson School of Music is pleased to announce that Brett Bawcum has been named Associate Director of Athletic Bands, Assistant Director of Bands at the University of Georgia.

Mr. Bawcum shares responsibility for design, instruction, and administration of the Redcoat Marching Band and serves as its primary drill-writer. He also consults and advises on other athletic band matters, having served as Basketball Band Director for ten years. He has served as conductor of the Concert Band and Symphonic Band and Guest Conductor of the Wind Symphony and Wind Ensemble. He administers the UGA Middle School Band Festival and January High School Band Festival. He created the UGA Summer Marching Band Camp and continues to serve as its Associate Director. Mr. Bawcum also co-created the modern UGA Summer Music Camp and shared direction of the camp from 2002 to 2011.

Mr. Bawcum has been the creative force behind many of the most beloved traditions and performances of the Redcoat Marching Band and Georgia Football. He was a key member of the inaugural UGA Spirit Committee that developed the Dawg Walk. He designed the celebrated post-9/11 tribute by the Redcoat Band. He was the first Redcoat show designer to form The Arch in a Redcoat Band show. He created the “Angel Tag” version of “Glory to Georgia” by fusing existing Tom Wallace arrangements into the modern signal of Bulldog victory. He also conceived and implemented the “Larry Munson Battle Hymn” tradition in the Redcoat Band Pregame Show, along with composing Mr. Munson’s now legendary spoken celebration of the past and future of Georgia Football. This production, which builds upon Jeff Simmons’ arrangement of the UGA school song, is believed to be among the first real-time interactions between live marching band and pre-taped stadium video and audio. It was recently voted “Greatest Georgia Football Tradition” by Georgia fans.

In 2008, Mr. Bawcum was commissioned to compose and arrange music for Georgia Governor Sonny Perdue’s Economic Mission to China. In 2010, ensembles of the Georgia Youth Symphony Orchestra commissioned and premiered his grade 3 band work “March for Isabella” and his grade 3 orchestra work “Stampede.” In 2011 the North Gwinnett Middle School Band premiered his grade 3 “Moments from Carmen,” while Cooper Middle School in Cobb County premiered his “Decennial Fanfare.” In 2013 he was commissioned to write an original work to mark the 75th anniversary of the Georgia Music Educators Association. His arrangement of Led Zeppelin’s “Black Dog” for Tuba-Euphonium Ensemble also premiered in 2013 at the U.S. Army Band Tuba-Euphonium Workshop in Washington, D.C. Mr. Bawcum continues to arrange and compose for collegiate and high school marching and concert bands throughout the U.S. His conducting, arranging, and/or performing work can also be found on commercial recordings by such artists as Band of Horses, Half Dozen Brass Band, and Modern Skirts. He has also served as producer, associate producer, or editor for seven recordings on the Mark, Summitt, and Naxos labels.

Mr. Bawcum currently serves as Georgia State Chair for the National Band Association. His other professional affiliations include the Georgia Music Educators Association, National Association for Music Education, College Band Directors National Association, Pi Kappa Lambda, Phi Mu Alpha, and Kappa Kappa Psi (Honorary).