In demand as both an instrumental and vocal collaborator, pianist Brock Tjosvold has performed throughout the United States with many up-and-coming musicians, as well as established ensembles.  Prior to joining the faculty at Eastman, Brock was Assistant Professor of Vocal Coaching & Accompanying at the Crane School of Music at SUNY Potsdam, where he was music director and vocal coach of the Crane Opera Ensemble.

During his time as a DMA student at Eastman, Brock won the Ann C. Fehn Memorial Award (1st Prize Pianist) at the 2021 Jessie Kneisel Lieder Competition. He was also awarded the 2020 Excellence in Accompanying Award. Brock has performed extensively around the nation in prestigious venues and festivals, such as the Grand Teton Music Festival, where he is the collaborative pianist for Donald Runnicles Musical Arts Scholarship Competition. Additionally, he has performed at Carnegie Hall with clarinetist Amy Humberd. Other collaborations have included notable singers such as Anthony Dean Griffey and Donald George.

Brock has performed in professional orchestras such as the Albany Symphony Orchestra, New World Symphony, and Battle Creek Symphony Orchestra. He was also the principal keyboardist for the 2017 National Repertory Orchestra, where he was a soloist performing Shostakovich’s Piano Concerto No. 2. Other concerto experience includes Berg’s Kammerkonzert for violin, piano, and winds, Jolivet’s Concertino for trumpet, strings, and piano, and Schumann’s Piano Concerto in A minor, Op. 54 as a national finalist in the Coeur d’Alene Symphony Orchestra Competition. 

He has attended many of the top summer music festivals on full fellowship, including Music Academy of the West and the Aspen Music Festival and School, studying with Jonathan Feldman and Rita Sloan respectively. Brock was a Tomita Young Artist for Finger Lakes Opera in 2020 and continues to play for them regularly. He served as a pianist for many masterclasses with the Art Song Preservation Society of New York in 2022. As an undergraduate, he also attended SongFest, where he studied with Martin Katz and Margo Garrett. He has received several honors, including a Presser Undergraduate Scholar Award, Outstanding Graduate from the University of Wyoming College of Arts and Sciences, and winning the Wyoming MTNA piano duo competition.

New music continues to be a large part of Brock’s career.  He has worked with several living composers, including Jennifer Higdon, Libby Larsen, John Musto, Ben Moore, John Luther Adams, Charles Wuorinen, and Nina C. Young, in addition to student composers while in school.  While at Eastman, he has performed with Musica Nova, the resident new music ensemble. In September 2022, Brock led workshops of four new operas as part of the Domenic J. Pellicciotti Opera Composition Prize at the Crane School of Music.

Currently the music director at First Universalist Church of Rochester, Brock enjoys playing organ and directing the choir in addition to his work as a pianist.  He has formerly been the organist at Liberty Christian Church (Martinsville, IN) and St. Matthew’s Episcopal Cathedral (Laramie, WY).

Brock began his primary musical training at the age of six with Patricia Randolph, later earning a bachelor’s degree in piano performance from the University of Wyoming, magna cum laude, under the tutelage of Dr. Theresa Bogard.  He previously completed his master’s degree at the University of Michigan with Martin Katz and a Performer’s Certificate at the Jacobs School of Music at Indiana University, studying with Anne Epperson and Kevin Murphy. Brock received his DMA in Piano Accompanying and Chamber Music from the Eastman School of Music, studying with Dr. Jean Barr and Dr. Andrew Harley. In addition to his primary studies, he received a minor in sacred music and a minor in solo piano, studying with Dr. Douglas Humphrys.