Kopetz Succeeds Brown as MSU Music Department Head

Barry Kopetz

STARKVILLE, Miss. (Press Release) — An experienced Ohio conductor and educator is the new head of Mississippi State’s music department.

Barry E. Kopetz began his administrative duties at the university Aug. 1. He formerly was a music professor at Capital University in Bexley, a suburb of Columbus.

Prior to joining CU in 2001, he served for 10 years as a music professor at the University of Utah and five years as assistant director of bands at the University of Minnesota. He also has held teaching positions at South Carolina and Ohio public schools, and at Bowling Green State University.

Kopetz succeeds longtime department head Michael Brown, who now is teaching the department’s music appreciation classes fulltime. A university employee since 2000, Brown also conducts the MSU Philharmonia and Starkville-MSU Symphony Orchestra, and is music director and manager of the Starkville Symphony Association.

Kopetz is an active composer, arranger and published author who received a doctorate in music education, with distinction, from Indiana University. He also holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in music education from Ohio State University, as well as a certificate from the New York University School of Business.

“Dr. Kopetz has had a distinguished record of accomplishment in the field of music and possesses a wealth of knowledge and experience in the administrative realm,” said Richard Blackbourn, dean of MSU’s College of Education, in making the announcement.

In welcoming the new administrator, Blackbourn noted that Kopetz’s “work at a variety of universities has been characterized by a measurable record of success coupled with high degree of collaboration.”

Kopetz is a member of the National Band and College Band Directors National associations, Music Educators National Conference, and the Pi Kappa Lambda, Phi Beta Mu, Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia and Kappa Kappa Psi honor societies. In 1998, he was selected for membership in the prestigious American Bandmasters Association.

Accredited by the National Association of Schools of Music, the MSU music department currently offers a bachelor’s degree in music education, with specific majors in instrumental music, vocal music, piano and guitar, and a bachelor of arts in music. Developing quality music educators for Mississippi and the Southeast region, and providing an advanced study of music in the liberal arts tradition are its primary missions.

With more than 100 concerts, recitals and other programs held annually, the department also regularly contributes to the cultural atmosphere of Starkville and the Golden Triangle region.

To learn more about music education at MSU, visit www.music.msstate.edu, or follow the department on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Mississippi-State-University-Department-of-Music/227362148042 and Twitter: @mstatemusic.

Complete information on MSU is available at www.msstate.edu. Also, follow the university on Facebook www.facebook.com/msstate, Instagram and Twitter @msstate.