Wade Brown (1866-1950) was hired by State Normal in 1912 as the Director of Music, a position in which he was tasked with both improving the school’s music curriculum and developing musical programming to enhance both campus and community life in Greensboro. He also implemented the first statewide High School Contest-Festival in 1919. By 1939, the Festival featured 25,000 children competing at district levels and around 5,000 students traveling to UNCG to compete in vocal, instrumental, and choral competition.

In 1934, Wade R. Brown stepped down as head of the School of Music, and formally retired from the faculty in 1936. Brown died May of 1950, with one obituary notice reading, “he is memorialized, too, by the deeper appreciation of the fine things in life which he encouraged and cultivated in the minds and hearts of North Carolinians, both young and old.”

Supplemental Materials

The Carolinian Wade R. Brown article

Spartan Story about Wade R. Brown

Spartan Story about the North Carolina State High School Music Contest-Festival