Tag: Tomisha Price-Brock

North Carolina has long been a breeding ground for culturally significant musicians, from John Coltrane and Nina Simone to Thelonious Monk, Earl Scruggs and Randy Travis.

“A lot of times, when people think about music, they think Motown in Detroit, they’ll think Atlanta, they’ll think Texas, California, or New York,” said Tomisha Price-Brock, director of university bands and assistant professor of music at Johnson C. Smith University. “But a lot of the historical roots of music started right here in North Carolina, from cultural history from the Appalachian region all the way to the history of blues and gospel.”

Now, armed with a $200,000 grant from the National Endowments for the Humanities, Price-Brock aims to share that history with a larger audience. Her project is called “Harmony Across the Carolinas: An Exploration of Music’s Role in Culture, Education, and Technology.”

It’s a huge win for the gospel-loving Virginia girl who has dedicated her life to music and arts education.

“The arts are important to not just the economy, but to social development, to interpersonal development and to emotional intelligence,” Price-Brock said. “If we are amplifying and supporting our arts education, we’re showing the true value it has on the greater good of society.

“This project can help do that, and to show that the continual support is needed for our arts programs across the state.”

Drawn to music from an early age

Price-Brock was born in Carrollton, Virginia, near Norfolk, to a tight-knit family. They were so close that her paternal grandparents, her parents, she and her two siblings lived in the same house, with other family members on the same street.

Through family and church, Price-Brock was exposed to music early on.

“It was everywhere, on both sides of my family,” she said. “On my mother’s side, it was mostly church musicians, gospel quartet singers, music educators and ministers. And, on my father’s side, singers and educators.”

As for Price-Brock’s own musical talent, she said her mother took notice first.

“I think my mom knew before I did,” she said. “She always tells the story that, when I was younger, no matter what activity I was involved in, if a commercial, TV show or movie came on, I would stop in my tracks, not to pay attention to the content, but to listen to the music.”

By age 5, she had joined the church choir, a passion that never ceased, and in fourth grade, she took up clarinet and joined the band.

“My cousin was a huge influence on me. I was always watching everything she did. She had the vocal side and the instrumental side, and she played the clarinet,” Price-Brock said. “That’s all she talked about.”

Sunday morning music stood out.

“Just listening to and watching the church choirs sing their opening selection before processing down the aisle, I knew that no matter what career I went into, I had to have access to having my own gospel choir one day,” Price-Brock said. “That was my goal back then, to have my own choir, or to be connected to music in some way.”

Hearing the harmonies of a marching band

But once she heard a marching band, she was hooked. “I watched the Norfolk State University Spartan Legion Band for the first time when I was in high school — that’s when I knew I was going to pursue music. Hearing the harmonies, hearing those chords in the instruments, I was attracted more to the music.

“The look of the band was great, but it was always the music and how the music flowed. I thought, ‘Man, that sounds amazing. I want to do this.’ It’s always been the music that has drawn me to the field.”

Her cousin, the same one who led the church choir and played clarinet, was also a band director. Because of her, Price-Brock knew that, though rare in the historically male-dominated field, that path was possible.

In 2005, Price-Brock earned her bachelor’s degree in music from Virginia State University, and went on to earn her master’s in music education from Norfolk State University in 2011, and her doctorate from UNC Greensboro in 2020.

In all, she has taught music and led bands in seven states, from Nevada and Washington to South Carolina and Mississippi, landing at JCSU in west Charlotte in 2023.

Whether teaching in high school or at the collegiate level, Price-Brock shares one common truth with her students: everyone is musical.

“I always tell my students, music is like a judgment-free zone. Everyone has a chance to express themselves,” she said. “Everyone is innately musical, and it’s our job to shape them to find their own unique experiences.

“I feel that music definitely is a core subject, not just an extracurricular subject, and it’s one that’s essential to teaching you about your total self.”

Connecting with music

Since 1965, the federally funded NEH has supported the humanities in every state. Price-Brock’s grant will take two years to research and implement.

The first year will focus on the project’s foundation and cultural exploration, including a “Cadence and Culture” lecture and performance series. These events will spotlight traditional musical practices, from Appalachian ballads to gospel choirs, and will feature key composers, musicians, and producers from North Carolina.

“It will also include storytelling from descendants of key musicians like Nina Simone and John Coltrane and other people who were key to this area,” Price-Brock said.

The first of these events will be held at JCSU, followed by statewide performances at partner HBCU institutions, including Elizabeth City State University, Livingstone College, Winston-Salem State University and schools within the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools district.

The project also iincludes the design and launch of an interactive website, digital archive and mobile app that will share educational resources, virtual museum exhibits and some user-generated content.

For the Voices of North Carolina oral history project component, “Students and teachers will get a chance to ask questions, and it’s going to foster intergenerational commitment,” she said. “For example, (a student) will learn from someone in their 80s or 90s who attended the first music school here in North Carolina.”

The digital exhibit will also launch at JCSU, with later access given across the state and beyond.

“Music and our connection with music is extremely important,” Price-Brock said. “It is important that we know that investments in arts education nurtures a generation that will carry forward our state’s legacy.”

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This story was originally published December 30, 2025 at 11:56 AM.