2008 Woodie Awards
Jonathan Brennand '08
Seth Gorenstein
Issue date: 2/29/08 Section: TRUE DREW
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His passion for music and commitment to service has graced the communities of Madison and Morristown throughout his four years living, learning and leading in the Forest.
As graduation looms for Brennand, the Music and History double major is writing the closing bars of his harmonious legacy at Drew.
Brennand's Drew musical career has spanned from performing in Drew Chorale, Orchestra and 36 Madison Avenue. Beyond Drew, Brennand has also sung in the choir of Grace Church in Madison and was hired last year as an assistant conductor for Harmonium, a regional choral society located in Morristown.
Brennand grew up in Ruislip, England, just northwest of London. It was there where Brennand discovered his voice and sang for a local boy's choir, at one point traveling to London to perform in St. Paul's Cathedral.
When he was ten-years old, Brennand and his parents moved to Wayland, Mass., where his passion for music would incorporate the violin. Brennand performed at the Tanglewood Music Center as a violinist in the Boston Symphony Youth Orchestra when he was 14.
Brennand arrived at Drew planning to major in English or History. "I'd do music on the side," he says, "because my parents wanted me to do something practical in my life."
Instead, Brennand struck a chord of compromise. He decided to double major in Music and History, with an extracurricular focus on the former.
Within his first week at Drew, Brennand auditioned and was accepted for spots in Chorale, Orchestra and MadAve.
"I had never sung a cappella before," he says, "but I really enjoyed MadAve. By the end of first semester, I had 12 very good friends who were mostly upperclassmen."
During summer training for becoming the Tolley 2nd Resident Assistant his sophomore year, Brennand met Jamie Jung ('08), with whom he has shared both musical experiences and a long-lasting friendship. "We've had a million [music] classes together, we're both in Chorale, and we did a Junior Recital last year," she says.
When not assistant conducting for the Drew Orchestra or writing his Senior thesis, Brennand is found at Grace Church in Madison leading children's choirs as the Assistant Choir Director. "I really enjoy it, and I really got to know the Madison community," he says. "Drew isolates itself from Madison, and you really have to go out of your way to know the community."
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