Deborah H. How

Deborah H. How received a PhD in Musicology from the USC Thornton School of Music, MA in Ethnomusicology from the UCLA School of Music, and BA in Humanities (Music and Theater) from Swarthmore College. She will receive an MBA from the UMass Amherst Isenberg School of Management in 2015, where her special interest is in Social Media and Organizational Strategy.

Dr. How specializes in both advanced performance studies (classical piano, flute, chamber music) and academic music studies (literature, theory, history). She maintains a private music studio with national-level competition winners in both performance and theory/composition. She concertizes regularly (piano and flute) in ensemble groups and as a concerto soloist for community outreach concerts and fundraising events.

Dr. How is also the CEO of BRAVURA innovations, a consulting firm dedicated to virtuoso management, marketing, and branding solutions for the performing arts. She travels throughout the U.S. giving lectures and workshops, including presentations/panels at the MTNA National Conference, NFA National Convention, CAPMT State Conference, and MTAC State Convention. She is widely known as a connection builder and fundraising architect for music education and performance. She has been a Center Representative for the Royal Conservatory Music Development Program (MDP) for the past 10 years and is a reserve member of the Royal Conservatory of Music Examinations College of Examiners.

Committed to non-profit community work, Dr. How is Co-Founder and President of the Westside Music Foundation, a 501(c)(3) public benefit charity for music education. She is the immediate past MTNA Composition Competition State Coordinator for CAPMT and the immediate past Young Composers Guild State Chair for the MTAC. Dr. How currently holds the positions of Composer’s Today State Adjudicator Chair for MTAC, Co-Founder and Treasurer of MTAC Santa Monica Bay Branch, and Treasurer of Mu Phi Epsilon Los Angeles Alumni Chapter; she also sits on the board of the Southwestern Youth Music Festival (SYMF). Dr. How also serves on the Swarthmore College Alumni Council and is the Swarthmore College Los Angeles Alumni Connections Chair. She is the volunteer web master and Director of IT for over a dozen organizations.