About Me

Brandon Duras is currently the Director of Instrumental Music in Brunswick, Maine where he conducts the two jazz bands, Symphonic Band, Honors Wind Ensemble, and teaches piano and music theory. A graduate of the University of New Hampshire, he received his Bachelor of Music Education in 2017 and Master of Arts in Wind Conducting in 2019. During his time at UNH, he served as principal trumpet in both the UNH Wind Symphony and Symphony Orchestra, lead trumpet in the UNH 3 o’clock Jazz Band, and performed in a student run brass quintet, The Ambrassadors. Mr. Duras has performed with the Portsmouth Symphony Orchestra, New Hampshire Philharmonic, Portsmouth Symphony Orchestra Brass Quintet, and the Freese Brother’s Big Band. He has also appeared on three CD’s: one with the Wind Symphony and two with the 3 o’clock Jazz Band. Following his graduation in 2017, he traveled to Switzerland and Italy to perform on a two-week tour with the 3 o’clock Jazz band at the Montreux and Umbria Jazz Festivals. During his graduate degree, Mr. Duras served as an assistant conductor to all three concert bands and served on staff for the Wildcat Marching Band and Beast of the East Pep Band.

In the fall of 2019, Duras was appointed as the Director of Instrumental Music at Brunswick High School—a NAMM Foundation Best Communities for Music Education seven years in a row. Since he started at Brunswick High School, he has made a steadfast effort advocating for improving the already strong program through his work with the Accelerated Arts Program committee for the Brunswick School District. His ambitious and determined vision for his program will hopefully put Brunswick, Maine on the map as a leading program for music education. In addition to his teaching position, he also serves as the District 3 Chair for the Maine Music Educators Association, and the Maine State Chair for the National Band Association.

In his short career, he is already a decorated conductor with several national and international recognitions. He was named a semi-finalist in the National Band Association’s Young Conductor Mentorship Program (2019) and the Warsaw Wind Ensemble Conducting Competition (2021), and participated in the Frederick Fennell International Conducting Competition in Modica, Italy (2023). Duras was awarded third place in the 2021–22 American Prize Competition for Wind Band Conducting. Under his direction, the Brunswick High School Honors Wind Ensemble received third place for the 2021–22 American Prize in Wind Ensemble Performance. The groups also received a finalist honorable mention for the 2021–22 American Prize Ernst Bacon Award for American Music. Last year, the Honors Wind Ensemble was again recognized in the American Prize competition receiving third place in the American Prize Ernst Bacon Award for Performance of American Music and a finalist honorable mention for the American Prize in Wind Ensemble Performance. So far this season, Mr. Duras has been named a finalist in the Conducting category, and the Wind Ensemble has once again been named finalists in the Wind Band Performance and American Music categories. Additionally, the BHS Honor Wind Ensemble’s performance of Viet Cuong’s percussion concerto, Re(new)al, has been named a finalist in the Chamber Ensemble category. In 2022, Duras was named Maine Music Educator Association’s Outstanding New Music Educator and was selected as one of forty educators to be featured in Yamaha’s “40 Under 40” Class of 2023. 

As part of his partnership with Yamaha, he is a contributor for the Yamaha Educator Suite where he writes articles on music education. Mr Duras is in demand as a presenter, having presented at the Maine Music Educators Association’s All State Conference and the World Association of Symphonic Band and Ensembles’ 20th International Conference.