Reuben Brown’s journey to the podium: learning from the best
Reuben Brown 2025 New Zealand Assistant Conductor-in-Residence
Photo credit: Sadbhb Photography
Reuben Brown auditioned with the Auckland Philharmonia late last year for the role of 2025 New Zealand Assistant Conductor-in-Residence, a national position hosted by the Auckland orchestra. He'd applied for the coveted role twice before, but this was his first audition.
Waiting in the dressing room, he'd moved on from regrets about spending his birthday away from friends and family, marvelling instead that, at 25 years old, he was about to conduct the Auckland Philharmonia.
Hoping for familiar face in the orchestra, he'd checked with former student friend Dominic Jacquemard, and was disappointed that the percussionist, now a member of the Auckland Phil, wasn’t rostered for that session.
Brown's audition began with the first movement of a Beethoven Symphony and then came Strauss's Die Fledermaus Overture. Brown told me the story in a recent interview.
"About 40 bars in, trombones and tubular bells have a slow, simple exchange, boom, bell, boom, bell. Before that it’s all rampant fun and entertainment, as Strauss is. Then I gave the trombones their cue and looked up to the bells – and there was Dominic, smiling. In that moment, I could breathe, and enjoy the fact that I was there, making music, and that set the tone for the rest of the audition. I was a lot more relaxed, and happy to take risks in what felt like a safe environment."
After a Bruch Violin Concerto with Auckland Phil’s Principal 2nd violin Minglun Liu – “we had such good chemistry, he was wonderful to work with” – came New Zealand composer Louise Webster’s Falling Brittle on the Wing, and Stravinsky’s Dumbarton Oaks Concerto.
The successful audition ended with another surprise – as Brown left the podium, the orchestra played “Happy birthday”. “It was very sweet,” he recalls. “I felt very appreciated, and it was a really nice start to my relationship with them.”
Conductor Reuben Brown working with the Auckland Philharmonia
Photo credit: Thomas Hamill
Brown grew up in Invercargill, and his early musical experiences didn’t obviously point to a professional orchestral career. His father took him, with his sister, to recorder classes at the local Saturday morning music classes and joined them in the lessons. “Sitting there with my dad, both of us trying to figure out how to play BAG, that’s where it all started”, Brown remembers.
After graduating from recorder class, the young Brown was attracted by the “nice and loud” brass instruments and began lessons on cornet, growing eventually into larger instruments and settling on the euphonium. Tuition moved from Saturday classes to school, with several years in junior band and then senior brass band at high school.
Travelling to Wellington with his Invercargill school’s senior band for the national band competition was one of several musical watershed moments that opened doors to a possible future. “It was a big trip,” Brown remembers. “We played on the Michael Fowler Centre stage, my first time competing and playing at that standard. It was quite a moment, especially hearing bands more advanced than us.”
Next came membership of the National Secondary Schools Band, where Brown met young brass musicians from all over the country. Experiencing music at a national level inspired him to pursue further studies, leading to his audition to study euphonium at the NZ School of Music (NZSM) at Victoria University in Wellington.
But before that, Brown’s secondary school music teacher had offered interested students a chance to “have a go” at conducting, and a role on the podium beckoned. “Something about it stuck,” he says. “I was floating between percussion and euphonium in the concert band and there was something about conducting that made things come alive. It was an opportunity to break out from behind the percussion section, and then I was able to do the same thing with the brass bands.”
Accepted into the performance course at NZSM as a euphonium player, Brown had the good fortune to encounter Kenneth Young, the NZSO’s former Principal Tuba, a brass player with experience on euphonium, and a lecturer in both composition and conducting. Young conducted the NZSM Orchestra and coincidentally had come from Invercargill.
Brown, pursuing his interest in conducting, persuaded Young to let him join the Orchestra. “I said, ‘you guys are having so much fun, I want to be part of that,’” he remembers. He auditioned for the percussion section and joined Jacquemard, whose smiling face behind the tubular bells later had an impact on his Auckland Philharmonia audition. He was also able to join Young’s conducting classes.
After his undergraduate degree, Brown continued to Honours with a study programme in euphonium and conducting. It seemed he was on his way to that career on the podium, his trajectory eased not only by talent, but his determination to succeed, his persuasive charm and the flexibility of the NZSM staff.
“I went to university hoping I could study conducting – and it worked out! And I got better with a lot of practice, and tutor feedback and criticism, and then a few more doors opened,” he says.
The next door was opened by the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, who had established Conducting Fellowships in 2020, offering a year-long association with the Orchestra with what they describe as “bespoke opportunities to work with NZSO players, international conductors and educators”. Brown was a Fellow for three years, from 2022-2024, working with conductors Hamish McKeich, whose vision had driven the setting up of the Fellowships, Gemma New, and the Orchestra’s Music Director Emeritus, James Judd.
Reuben Brown conducting the NZSO as a Conducting Fellow
Photo credit: NZSO/Phoebe Tuxford
A turning point, says Brown, was learning from New about the international career trajectory for young conductors. “One of the ways is to be an assistant,” he says, “get behind the scenes, learn the repertoire, discuss your ideas with the professional conductors and understand their rehearsal approaches, how they deal with players and any problems that arise. I learned a lot working that way with Gemma – last year we did Mozart’s Jupiter with the NZSO, and Copland, and the new Lyell Cresswell Piano Concerto.”
From his tutors and mentors, Young, New, McKeich and Judd, Brown was acquiring the fundamentals of conducting, “including what you don’t need to do,” he says, laughing. “They encouraged me to take risks, standing back, letting the orchestra play. For me, risk-taking was about when to come into play and shape things, without doing too much. I remember once, conducting the Barber of Seville Overture with NZSO, they said ‘put your hands behind your back’. I started again, with my hands behind me, and it was great, all I had to do was cue the odd eyebrow and make the odd smile and have fun with it. That was an astounding moment, realizing that, as a conductor, you don’t have to be all over the place and completely in the scene.”
Alongside orchestral work, Brown has maintained his brass band interests, particularly with Wellington Brass. “They’re the best band in the country, with their music director Dave Bremner – reigning champions, with ten national titles in the past decade. They were also a bit of a distant dream when I started at university. I joined in 2019, and after a couple of years became the band manager. That was a tough one for a 21-year-old, managing community musicians at that level.” He remained in the role, while playing in the band, for 2-3 years, also becoming assistant music director.
Reuben Brown (left, with baton)
…with members of Wellington Brass at a Cuba Street event.
For Brown, it was another chance to develop his conducting craft. He was entrusted with conducting rehearsals and preparing the band for competitions when Bremner, Principal Trombonist with the NZSO, was away touring. “It was a great opportunity, with every level of the industry in the band – student, semi-pro and professional. And they’re such good players. It was nice to be trusted with what is a very precious band for Dave and all the musicians.”
Now, as 2025 New Zealand Assistant Conductor-in-Residence, Brown will work with the Auckland Philharmonia, the Christchurch Symphony Orchestra and the Dunedin Symphony Orchestra, assisting visiting and resident conductors and conducting those orchestras in some concerts. In this role he is being mentored and guided by Giordano Bellincampi, now in his tenth year as the Auckland Phil’s Music Director.
Italian-born Bellincampi, a former orchestral trombonist, is based in Copenhagen, and is Associate Professor of Conducting at the Royal Danish Academy of Music. Brown is hugely impressed with his new teacher. “Giordano is great, he’s been super-helpful; after just a short time with him, I could start a fan club! He has all the best tools for me from his teaching in Denmark.”
Conductor Giordano Bellincampi with the Auckland Philharmonia
…mentoring Reuben Brown, the Assistant Conductor-in-Residence.
Photo credit: Adrian Malloch
From Bellincampi, Brown is gaining a clear understanding of the conductor’s role. “Giordano understands the significance of what composers put down, he’s very driven by making sure the music is what the composer intended, and he does that with a great commitment to the musicians as well,” Brown says. “He’s a very caring person in how he shapes the orchestra and works with the dynamics of the players.”
Brown is approaching his developing career with both humility and a thorough commitment to learning as much as possible from every situation. “I didn’t grow up in the Suzuki Method, I didn’t have that upbringing, so I’m learning on the job. And that’s fine, because I’m learning from the best, from the amazing colour and skill of these professional musicians.”
In June, July and August, Brown will conduct the Auckland Philharmonia in three Community Classics concerts in Manukau, Takapuna and Auckland City. He believes conductors serve composer, musicians and audience. “We all care about the music deeply,” he says. “Our expectations have to be looked after and preserved in live performance.”
He’s looking beyond his current role. “I want to refine my Mendelssohns, my Mozarts, my Beethovens, the pillars of what a conductor must do. And do some opera, to tune up that area. Every day is school day at the moment.”
Reuben Brown
…conducting at the Whakatipu Music Festival in April 2025
Photo credit: Pablo Herrero
Brown’s future plans include a Masters programme in conducting overseas, probably in Europe or the UK. After that, he hopes to win an assistant conductor role with an orchestra somewhere in the world.
Alongside his conducting journey is one to learn more about his Māori heritage. Brown is proud of his whakapapa back to hapu and iwi in the Gisborne area, Ngāti Rangiwaho, Ngāi Tāmanuhiri, Rongowhakata and Te Aitanga a Mahaki. “My father’s father moved the family down to the South Island, and you don’t get to Gisborne from Invercargill very often. I have an uncle up there, Te Aorangi Harrington. I’m trying to spend more time with him and my auntie. He’s very proud of me – and this journey, as well as conducting, is very important to me. My parents and my Southland grandmother are also really supportive and proud. I’m very lucky to have so much whanau and industry support.”
Auckland Philharmonia Community Classics: Beyond the Stars Music by Mozart, Salina Fisher, R. Strauss, Debussy and Lucy Mulgan. Reuben Brown (conductor) Manukau 7 June, Takapuna 19 July, Auckland Town Hall 3 August. More details and booking links here.