FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – The Indiana University Jacobs School of Music is pleased to announce the appointment of Demondrae Thurman as the school’s new Eugene O’Brien Bicentennial Executive Associate Dean, effective Jan. 1, 2024. He is currently professor of music in euphonium and chair of the Brass Department at Jacobs.
Thurman has an outstanding international reputation as a euphonium soloist, having performed in Europe, Asia and throughout North America, and as a chamber musician and orchestral player.
He plays first euphonium and trombone in the Sotto Voce Quartet, which tours extensively. Thurman also plays baritone horn in the Brass Band of Battle Creek, a British brass band comprised of many of the world’s best brass and percussion performers, and trombone in the Tuscaloosa Horns. He is additionally in demand as a euphonium specialist for symphony orchestras, including the New York Philharmonic, Atlanta Symphony Orchestra and Philadelphia Orchestra, among others.
Thurman previously served as head of the brass area at the University of Alabama and the director of graduate studies at Samford University Division of Music. In 2023, he was named a fellow in the Big 10 Academic Alliance’s Departmental Executive Officer program.
“Demondrae Thurman is a force,” said Abra Bush, David Henry Jacobs Bicentennial Dean. “As a first-generation college student and an African American man, he will bring a much-needed perspective and insight to the leadership of the school. He is not only a world-class performer and teacher, he is also a wise, thoughtful and experienced administrator.
“We are lucky that he has raised his hand for this important role at the school. I am delighted to welcome him to the leadership team of Jacobs and look forward to working closely with him in the years ahead as the school moves into its second century.”
Jeremy Allen, the current Eugene O’Brien Bicentennial Executive Associate Dean and associate professor of music in jazz studies, will take administrative leave during the spring 2024 semester, after which he will return to his teaching position in the Jazz Department in fall 2024.
Allen has served Jacobs as executive associate dean since spring 2017 and as interim dean from 2020 to 2022. During that time, he led myriad initiatives that strengthened the school, including a redesign of the ballet program, numerous faculty hiring committees, oversight of the Opera and Ballet Theater program and stewardship of the school through the COVID-19 pandemic.