The UUCA Board of Trustees is pleased to introduce Brian Laakso as our new Director of Music!  While we all know Brian as our keyboard artist for the past eight years most of us aren’t familiar with the wealth of training and experience he will be bringing to his new position as Acting Director of Music.  His full resume fills several pages, so the following are just a few highlights. 

Brian has a Masters of Education in Cultural Foundations and a Bachelors of Music Education from Kent State, and he studied piano performance at the Oberlin Conservatory of Music.  He served as choir director and pianist at Mogadore Christian Church for seven years and has provided music therapy for adults with severe disabilities.  As a teacher, Brian directed a middle school choir and coordinated concerts and other performances, including a Black History month concert. At Canton McKinley High School, he developed and implemented a complete four-tiered curriculum for grades 9-12 which was adopted by the district’s Board of Education, and founded the Impact School for the Arts Student Cultural Committee.  He is a former president of the Ohio Chapter of Technology Institute for Music Educators.  The curriculum he developed for Music Technology was published in the book Music Tech 101.  He teaches a Music Appreciation class where his students explore music genres from around the world.

In addition to these credentials, the search committee was impressed by Brian’s eagerness to work collaboratively and the vision and enthusiasm he has for expressing  UU values in our music program. The church will be developing a music committee to assist Brian in refining this vision with input from the choir as well as other members of the congregation.  We are looking forward to this new phase in our musical journey together as Brian continues to share his gifts as our keyboard artist and serves as our Acting Director of Music. Congratulations Brian!