B.E. Boykin | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Brittany Elizabeth Boykin [3] |
| Born | Alexandria, Virginia, USA [2] [4] [5] |
| Instrument | Piano [6] |
| Website | https://beboykin.com/ |
Brittney Elizabeth Boykin, [3] known professionally as B.E. Boykin, [7] is an American composer, conductor, and classically trained pianist. [6]
Boykin is from Alexandria, Virginia. [2] [4] [5] She is African American. [8] She grew up in a musical family, [5] [7] [9] and was inspired by Maya Angelou's poems at a young age. [4] She began learning piano at age seven, [5] [7] [9] and won the NAACP's Afro-Academic, Cultural, Technological and Scientific Olympics three consecutive years in a row. [7] [5] [9] She won the Washington Post 'Music and Dance Award' in 2007. [7] [5] [9] She pursued music as a career, studying classical piano at Spelman College, from which she graduated with a B.A. in 2011. [6] [5] [1] She started composing after enrolling in a composition course there, [5] [9] and her compositions quickly became popular within the college's music department. [9] While at Spelman College, Boykin also won first place at the 2009 James A. Hefner HBCU Piano Competition, held at Tennessee State University, [5] [7] and travelled to Italy in Summer 2010 in order to perform in the Grumo Music Festival in Grumo. [3] [9]
After graduating, she continued her studies at Westminster Choir College of Rider University in Princeton, New Jersey. [7] [1] [2] She continued to compose music during her time there, [6] [5] [9] and was awarded the R & R Young Composition Prize just a few months before graduating. [1] [2] [6] She graduated from in May 2013 with a M.Mus in Sacred Music, concentrating in choral studies. [6] [1] [2]
Boykin obtained her PhD from Georgia State University, concentrating in music education. [1] [2]
Boykin founded her own publishing company, Klavia Press, [6] [9] and later joined Graphite Publishing. [2] [ when? ] In 2014, she was commissioned by Spelman College to write a choral piece, “We Sing as One,” for their 133rd Anniversary, celebrated at the Founders Day Convocation that year. [9] [7] [1] She was also included in The Oxford Book of Choral Music by Black Composers, published in February 2023 by Oxford University Press. [10] Boykin is Assistant Professor of Music at the Georgia Institute of Technology, [1] [2] [9] as well as the assistant director of the Spelman College glee club, [9] director of the treble choir at the Georgia Institute of Technology, [9] interim director of choral activities at Agnes Scott College, [9] and a teaching artist at The Atlanta Opera. [11]