Alexander Brose

Alexander Brose has over 20 years of experience working in classical music performance and education in both the United States and China. In March 2017, Mr. Brose was named The Tianjin Juilliard School’s founding executive director and CEO and as the first expatriate employee on the ground in China, he initiated the hiring process for an entirely new and diverse faculty and staff. Over the next five years, Mr. Brose oversaw of the construction of the school’s new landmark campus; finalized curriculum design and completed the accreditation process for the school’s three collegiate majors; designed and launched profit-seeking ventures focused on public and continuing education as well as teacher training; created a fully-operational fundraising program; led the school through its first strategic plan; and worked closely with colleagues both in Tianjin and New York to create an inclusive and supportive institutional culture that upholds the educational and artistic excellence of Juilliard and respects the surrounding influences of China.

Prior to working for Tianjin Juilliard, Alex was the vice president for development at the Aspen Music Festival and School (AMFS) in Colorado. There, he was responsible for all fund-raising and strategic relationship-building activities, including identifying annual operating support; raising US$75M as part of the festival’s Where Dreams Begin capital campaign; staff-directing the Board’s “nominating committee;” and working with fellow AMFS senior executives to create a new strategic plan.

Before Aspen, Mr. Brose spent 11 years at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music (SFCM), the West Coast's oldest school of music, first as assistant director of admissions, then as director of admissions (at age 25), and finally as associate vice president for advancement. While at SFCM, Mr. Brose used his familiarity with Asia and his Mandarin Chinese language skills to initiate frequent recruitment and relationship-building trips to China and elsewhere in East Asia, working closely with the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing, the Sichuan Conservatory of Music in Chengdu, the Hong Kong Academy of Performing and Visual Arts in Hong Kong, the Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music in Singapore, and, ultimately, with the Shanghai Conservatory of Music. It was in Shanghai that he masterminded the development of a sister-school relationship between Shanghai and San Francisco, leading to the creation of the annual San Francisco-Shanghai International Chamber Music Festival, an event he produced and co-curated for two years before leaving for Aspen.

Raised in South Korea, Hong Kong, and the United States, Mr. Brose received his bachelor of arts degree in Asian Studies, with a concentration in China, from Cornell University in Ithaca, N.Y. An award-winning vocalist, Alex has performed in various concert venues across the globe, including on the US nationally-syndicated radio show “A Prairie Home Companion,” at the Seoul National Arts Center in South Korea, with the Glimmerglass Festival in Cooperstown, N.Y., and with the Grammy Award-winning San Francisco Symphony Chorus, among others. He has served as a member of the board of governors of the Recording Academy (Grammys) in the United States and the American Chamber of Commerce in China. He currently sits on the advisory councils of the Cornell University Glee Club, the school’s oldest student organization, as well as the Tianjin Juilliard School. A sought-after public speaker, Mr. Brose has presented at major arts conferences and universities in both the US and China.

Mr. Brose’s wife and two children are Canadian, and he and his family look forward to settling in Toronto very soon.