Bready takes over NWOSU choirs
By INGRID MALDONADO- Student Reporter
Derrick Bready graduated with a bachelor of music education from University of Texas at San Antonio, Texas. He has a master of music education from the University of Houston. He is currently a doctoral candidate in musical arts at Baylor University. Northwestern Oklahoma State University is his first full time collegiate position.
He was a graduate assistant for the past two years at Baylor while working on his doctorate. Before going to Baylor, he taught for 20 years at a public school in Houston for both choir and private voice.
This semester, Bready teaches all the choir classes as well as aural skills and choral methods and material for the secondary school.
Q: What sold you on coming to NWOSU?
A: It was a whim that I found the position open in early June, and I applied, and within two weeks I was up here for an interview. I love the people. I loved the comradery of the team, the fine arts team. I think, internally, I like small towns even though I’ve always lived in the city. I have a knack for small towns. I never knew why, and now here I’m not bothered by rural Oklahoma. So I’m here because it was a great position, the choir is a good program, because I’m wanting to jump into academia, into college teaching.
That’s why I was getting the doctorate, and everything just lined up for me to get here.
Q: What is one of the first goals you hope to accomplish here?
A: First goals is to have a really good fall concert. That’s the end of October. We rehearse songs, we perform songs, and I think that first concert is going to be the real testament of how well has Mr. Bready acclimated to Northwestern, how well have the students acclimated to him, can we prepare a full concert for the end of October?
Q: What is your favorite class to teach and why?
A: The natural answer is going to be choir. I’m actually going to say one of my favorite classes is going to be secondary choral methods because that’s the class you take if you want to become a junior high or high school choir director. That’s what I did for 20 years. I feel pretty confident in choir conducting, teaching that methods class for our future teachers. I’m just teaching them what I’ve done in experience as someone who’s already teaching, as a teacher. So I hope to just share my experience, share my faults — here’s what worked well, here’s what didn’t — to hopefully prepare the future teachers.
Q: What is your superpower?
A: My superpower is that I’m a bonafide Disney adult, and I can talk about Walt Disney World all day long. So I I know a lot of history about Disney World. I know a lot of tricks and hacks to Disney World, and so I feel like that is my unknown superpower, when people meet other Disney adults.
Q: What is something most people don’t know about you?
A: I love working in a church. I love doing church music. I love having a church choir. I love leading worship, traditional worship, in a church.
