Shirlene Z. Brown
  

Shirlene Z. Brown absolutely loved the time she spent at SVSU.  She graduated in 2003 with a Bachelor’s degree in Music.  She is currently a professional jazz singer, but has been doing music for over 25 years. She gets to travel all over, mostly to Europe; only recently has she been performing in the United States. She can be more successful now, thanks to SVSU, because she has learned and now understands other genres and techniques.

Dr. Marc Peretz was very influential in Shirlene’s collegiate career. “He drove me really hard. Before I began this program, I had no discipline and I was stubborn. I now have discipline and I owe it to him. The light bulb just came on one day and I caught the rhythm.” One thing that Shirlene has learned at SVSU is that there is no room for mediocrity in the Music Program. “The entire faculty pushes you really hard to do your absolute, personal best. You get a lot of one-on-one attention in order to help you develop and reach your own potential. Out in the real-world, it’s really tough. They drive you really hard but it’s so worth it in the long run. They also teach you professionalism, which is very important in the real-world.”

Dr. Eric Nisula was also very helpful to Shirlene. “He taught me the importance of developing musicality, basically helped me make my music more than just ordinary.”

While working on her degree, Shirlene worked side by side with Dr. Nisula, helping develop the music programs for yearly concerts. This experience really helped her become more involved in music.

Shirlene knew she wanted to participate in some form of music since she was five years old. By the age of 25, she was successful in radio broadcast and decided that she could succeed as a singer, so she decided to go to college. “I fell in love with the closeness and motivation at SVSU. There are so many opportunities here and the campus is beautiful, I love it.”

“I highly recommend the Music Program at SVSU.  It gives you a well rounded aspect of music.  The background and history of music as well as honing your specific craft are two elements that are essential to any music program, and SVSU has them.  I was able to study choir music and numerous other genres such as classical, gospel, jazz, and even country.  It has made me more knowledgeable of what I can handle as a singer. For example, if a country musician asks me to sing backup, I am more prepared for it knowing the background I know about country music.”