Brooks Clarke (1991) is a guitarist, composer, and music educator from Jacksonville, Florida. A prolific and dynamic performer, Brooks is well known for the variety of styles and instruments he can be seen performing in musical pits throughout the southeastern United States. From 2015 - 2020, Brooks was music director of Crossroad Lutheran Church. From 2017 - 2020, Brooks was the Music Director and Director of Bands for Saint John’s Classical Academy, a Barney Charter Initiative tuition-free public school in Fleming Island, FL, where he oversaw the music department and taught theory and instrumental music.
Brooks is a graduate of the New England Conservatory of Music, earning a M.M. in Composition with a minor in Music Theory, with Studies in Contemporary Music. As a theorist, Brooks’ work is focused in the analysis of works of composed theatre, and the music of Pierre Boulez. He is also Magna Cum Laude graduate of Jacksonville University and holds a B.M. in Composition. He is also a recipient of the 2017 Delius Composition Award, the 2017 Jacksonville University College of Fine Arts Deans Interdisciplinary Award, The 2010 Louis Armstrong Jazz Award, a quarter-finalist for the 2019 GRAMMY Award for Music Education, and is currently nominated for the 2020 GRAMMY Award for Music Education for his work at SJCA.
Brooks has had music premiered various festivals including the Longy School of Music Divergent Studio Festival, the Atlantic Music Festival, the Charlotte New Music Festival, The Sewanee Summer Music Festival, and The São Paulo Contemporary Composers Festival. Other compositions have been performed by the Arizona Wind Symphony, the Jacksonville University Orchestra, and the MOCA Jacksonville Silent Film Collective. Brooks studied music theory and composition with Jianjun He, Tony Steve, Bob Moore, Katarina Miljkovic, and Stratis Minakakis. Brooks has studied guitar with James Hogan, Gary Starling, and Tony Smotherman. Brooks is a member of the Jacksonville based black metal group, The Noctambulant, and is featured on the albums "Advocatis Diaboli", as well as The Cold and Formless Deep.”