Kevin Brown

Canadian born guitarist Kevin Brown is an accomplished classical and jazz guitarist.  Studying guitar from a young age under his uncle Peter Ulrich and later being inspired by his high school band director Jeff Kula, he has gone on to study and perform with many world-class musicians. 

Brown has a BM in guitar performance from Wheaton College where he studied under Steve Ramsdell, Nicole Mitchell and Audrey Morrison.  Brown also has a MM in Jazz Composition from DePaul University where he studied with Bob Palmieri, Tom Matta, Mark Colby, Ron Perillo and Bob Lark.  Other notable teachers include Canadian guitarists Larry Roy, David Letkemann and Willie Wiebe; additional studies with Chicago guitarists Mike Allemana, Scott Hesse and Fareed Haque; and additional masterclasses with John Patitucci, Steve Coleman, Rudresh Mahanthappa, Rez Abbasi, Gary Smulyan, Gene Bertoncini, Xuefei Yang, Oscar Ghiglia, Anne Waller and Mark Maxwell. 

Kevin Brown has performed with artists such as Benny Golson, Bobby Watson, LAGQ, Jimmy Greene, Phil Woods, Jeff Hamilton, Marquis Hill, Victor Garcia, Chris Madsen, Marques Carroll, Jon Irabagon, Tim Ries, Matt Harris, Curtis Nowosad, Luke Sellick, Pete Benson, Michael Raynor, Juan Pastor, Matt Ferguson and many others.  He has performed at premier Chicago jazz clubs including the Green Mill and the Jazz Showcase; and he has performed at the Chicago Jazz Festival, the Iowa City Jazz Festival, Jazz Up Glen Ellyn, and the Chi-town Jazz Festival; and presented classical guitar recitals on college campuses and concert series throughout Chicagoland including chamber music performances.  He has independently released three albums of music with the Chicago group Mosaik.  In 2025 Brown will be releasing a collection of original arrangements of Advent music for jazz quintet featuring Andy Schlinder, Matt Peterson, James Ross and Lucas Gillan. 

Kevin Brown serves as Guest Lecturer for Jazz Guitar at Wheaton College, and an adjunct professor in the School of Music at Olivet Nazarene University where he teaches music appreciation, world music, jazz combo and applied guitar.  He also teaches guitar for the Community School of the Arts at Wheaton College in both the Suzuki and Preparatory programs.  A number of his students have gone on to win music scholarships at various colleges.  

Brown also serves as director for the Institute for Jazz Studies at Bellas Artes School of Music and the Northern Illinois Suzuki Guitar Institute.  He is a busy freelance performer and can be found performing in concerts and festivals, as well as providing music for corporate events, weddings, private events and in pit orchestras for musical theatre.

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