JUSTIN P. COWAN

FINDING MUSIC ​INSIDE THE STORY

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As a theatre professional, my career began as a Musical Director/Conductor.  Working as a Musical Director across the country at many regional theatres, I began to find a love not just for creating beautiful music, but for creating stories in which beautiful music could live.  As this passion for story-telling began to grow, I soon found myself facing a new career path.  Would I be content to only tell stories through songs? Or would I go further, and also begin to tell stories from my own point of view?

 

The answers to these questions became clear when I was hired as the Artistic Director of the BIG ARTS Herb Strauss Theatre on Sanibel Island, Florida. During my tenure as Artistic Director I became invigorated by the reality and need for cultivating an audience, finding an identity for the theatre, and telling stories from my own point of view with the collaboration of designers, actors, and other directors by my side.

 

Since that time, I have continued to invest in this new passion through both Masters and Doctoral Studies at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro.  I completed my Doctor of Musical Arts in Conducting, with a specialized secondary concentration in Directing through the University's MFA in Directing program in 2018.  

 

I currently serve as the Department Chair of the Theatre Arts department at Western Connecticut State University, as well as the Producing Artistic Director of WestRep Stage in Danbury, CT...about an hour outside of NYC.
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