Bruce C. Briney
Music Director and Conductor
Bruce Briney embraces a creative life that intersects the worlds of conducting, performing and teaching. As a music professor at Western Illinois University, he was selected as the Music Director of the QSOA in 2007, the organization’s 60th anniversary season. During his tenure, concert attendance and season subscribers have grown as audiences are drawn to the organization’s colorful and engaging programming. The multimedia Beyond the Score® production of Dvorak’s New World Symphony and the recent performance of Holst’s The Planets brought record audience numbers to hear the orchestra. The Illinois Council of Orchestras awarded the QSO the 2011 Community Relations of the Year Award for creative collaborations. In 2013, Dr. Briney was recognized as the ICO’s Community Orchestra Conductor of the Year and in 2020, the QSO was selected as ICO’s Community Orchestra of the Year.
Briney received his musical education from the University of Illinois and Northwestern University where he earned a Bachelor of Music, Master of Music and Doctor of Musical Arts in Performance. His conducting background includes work with orchestras, opera, wind ensemble, concert bands, brass ensemble and brass band. Recordings of Briney’s work as a conductor and instrumental soloist are represented on the Crystal, Koss, Premiere, Parma and RMC labels. Dr. Briney has performed and presented at national conferences including the International Trumpet Guild Convention, the Midwest International Band and Orchestra Clinic, the Texas Music Educators Convention, the College Band Directors National Association Convention, the Eastern Trombone Workshop, the New York Brass Conference, the North American Association of Brass Bands, and College Music Society meetings.
Fall 2022 marks the start of Briney’s 30th and final year at WIU. He received the Outstanding Teaching Award from the College of Fine Arts and Communication, and his students are frequent finalists and winners in the National Trumpet Competition, International Trumpet Guild Orchestra Competition, MTNA state and regional solo competitions and the School of Music Concerto Competition. Recent projects include Parma Records CD release of James Stephenson’s The Devil’s Tale, and a release of the composer’s Octet on Klavier.
Bruce and his wife Robin live in Macomb and share an empty nest with Addison and Ivy the golden retrievers. When in Quincy, Dr. Briney’s accommodations are provided by the Quality Inn & Suites and the Atrium Hotel on Third.
