Erick Parris Browne

 1955 -

Erick Parris, a choir director and music theorist and composer, has taught for over 25 years at all levels.  He has also been active as a church musician wherever he has worked.

Erick was born and raised in Panama, the youngest of three children and the only son of Marcus Clover and Mary Browne Parris. He grew up in a home in which music was an important part of life, his father being an organist and singer in the Salem Mission Church and other members of the larger family also being musicians.  

Erick started taking piano lessons at age six from an aunt on his mother’s side.  Three years later he began study after regular schooling hours at the Panama National Conservatory of Music, now the National School of Music in Panama. From his earliest years he was fascinated by music and by age ten would sit in the front pew of the church so that he could watch the organist play. It was at about that time that he determined he wanted to follow a career in music.

In 1974, following graduation from public high school, he became a full-time student at the conservatory, completing an advanced diploma in choral conducting and piano in 1978. He also married Corina Polanco at that time. While still a student at PNCM, Erick taught in the extension program of the conservatory at Colon and then continued there for two more years until 1980. 

He came to the U.S. that year to attend Atlantic Union College and  graduated from there in 1984 with a B.Mus. in music education.  After completing an M.Mus. in theory/composition at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst in 1986, he accepted a position at Antillean Adventist University in Mayaguez, Puerto Rico, where he directed the choir and taught theory/composition and other classes for two years.

Parris returned to the U.S. in 1988 to teach at South Lancaster Academy, where he taught voice; directed two choirs, taking them on regional tours and also to Bermuda and Canada; worked with the drama department in presenting musical dramas; and assisted nearby AUC in working with student teachers.

He started full-time work on a doctorate at UMASS/Amherst in 1991, serving as a Teaching Associate in theory and Departmental Assistant in aural training and received the Jester Hairston Scholarship in each of his three years at the University. In 1993 he was the winner of the Orchestral Composition Competition at the university. He completed his   Ph.D. in composition and theory pedagogy in 1994.  His dissertation was titled Three Pieces for Orchestra.

He then taught in public schools in Massachusetts and Connecticut for three years and served  as an adjunct faculty member at AUC from 1995-1997.

In 1997 Parris returned to Antillean Adventist University to chair the music program, direct the choir, and teach classes. In his three years there he revived and created a more rigorous college music program and established a conservatory-style community music school.

He returned to the U.S. in 2000 to chair the music program at AUC, direct the choir, and teach theory/composition, music education, and conducting classes for the next seven years. During that time he also served as Director of the Thayer Performing Arts Community School, a program affiliated with the college music department.  In addition to being an innovative and creative administrator who implemented changes and improvements in both the department and community school, Parris also chaired the college Rank and Tenure Committee, was in the faculty senate, and served on numerous committees.

A year after he achieved tenure at AUC, he relocated to the Atlanta, Georgia, area in 2007 when his wife, Corina, who has a doctorate in education and was chair of the modern language department, lost her position when the department was closed and found a position in Atlanta, Georgia. He accepted a position as chair of the fine arts department at Tri-Cities High School in East Point, Georgia, a large multi-faceted visual and performing arts magnet program that included music instruction and performing ensembles, art, dance, drama, musical theatre, and TV production. 

After one year, he found the demands of the work at the school limited personal and family time and accepted a position as chair of the fine arts program and director of choral activities at Forest Park High School outside Atlanta, one he still retains.

Parris had started composing in 1976 while attending the conservatory in Panama. He recently related how his interest in music theory had led to composing and how he has evolved as a composer:

Theory was always something that intrigued me and I began to write religious music while at the conservatory. At AUC, I started out with piano as my major and then took the full theory sequence, which included theory classes and composition under Dr. Margarita Merriman.

Through those years and during my graduate studies when composing was part of my program I broadened the scope of what I wrote. Although post-graduate employment in Adventist schools with its demands in committees, travel, and administration limited time for composing, my most recent position has enabled me to have more time to compose. 

Parris has also been active as a church musician, serving as organist and choir director and minister of music throughout his career.  He has been praised for his ability to achieve excellent results with volunteer church choirs, for the level of repertoire he chooses, and his ability to make the experience an enjoyable one.

The Parrises have three children, Erick, Marcus, and Melody.  Marcus, who studied orchestra conducting under Harold Farberman at Bard College in upstate New York, is pursuing a career in music as a composer and conductor.

ds/2013

Sources: Interview with Erick Parris, February 2013; Resume, 2012; Rock Spring Presbyterian Church, Atlanta, Georgia, bulletin, 30 December 2012; personal knowledge.

Music by Erick Parris

(A Partial Listing)

 

Choral Works

 

Let there be Light    Cantata for two sopranos, choir, and organ

God rises to shouts of acclamation   SATB and piano

Christ the Lord is Risen today   SATB, organ and Brass

Let the People Sing   SATB and piano

Eternal God   SATB and piano

Glory Be to God!  A Cappella

Take up the Cross    SATB and organ

We Give You thanks, oh Lord    SAB, flute, violin, and piano

We have come to Worship You oh Lord   SATB and piano

Take up the Cross, Follow Him joyfully     SATB and organ

The Earth is beautiful    SATB/ A cappella

Come Holy Spirit   SATB and organ

Come, Christians, Join to Sing   arr, S1, S2, A1, A2 and organ

I will extol You, my God the King    SATB and organ

 

Organ

 

How Firm a Foundation

Speak, Lord, for thy Servant Heareth

Far beyond the Sun

Come Christian join and sing

When we are living

We have come

In cold December

Festival Postlude

 

Chamber Music

 

Crown Him with many Crowns     Piano Trio

Piece for clarinet and piano

Festivo for alto saxophone and piano

Piece for cello solo

Piece for double bass solo

Three pieces for woodwind trio

Piece for Brass Quintet

Piece for double bass & piano

 

Orchestra

 

Reflexiones     full orchestra

Three Pieces for Orchestra     full orchestra

Mejorana     chamber orchestra

Remembranzas     full orchestra

Blue Mountain     string orchestra

 

Contemporary Christian

 

My Desire     vocal solo and piano

Wrapped in swaddling clothes     vocal solo and piano

God’s Grace is all I need     vocal solo and piano

El nino rey     vocal solo and piano

In a manger     vocal solo and piano

Emmanuel!     vocal solo and piano