Dr. Brian Messier is Director of Bands and Senior Liaison for Hopkins Center Ensembles at Dartmouth College, where he conducts the Wind Ensemble and Marching Band and teaches courses in conducting, musical leadership, and arts entrepreneurship. Since arriving at Dartmouth in 2019, Messier has founded and led the Mexican Repertoire Initiative at Dartmouth—a musical, cultural, and diplomatic project sponsored by the Hopkins Center for the Arts. The initiative champions works by Mexican composers, advances equity in the arts, and fosters international collaboration through commissions, exchanges, tours, and annual symposia.
In spring 2023, Messier led the Dartmouth College Wind Ensemble on tour in Mexico as part of the U.S.–Mexico Bicentennial of Diplomatic Relations, with support from both nations' cultural ministries. Most recently, the ensemble was selected by blind audition to perform a full program of Mexican repertoire at the 2024 College Band Directors National Association (CBDNA) Eastern Division Conference. In the coming year, Messier will lead the world premiere of a new Symphony for Band by seminal Mexican composer Arturo Márquez—a landmark event in the wind band repertoire and a milestone for the Mexican Repertoire Initiative.
Beyond Dartmouth, Messier is the Founder and Artistic Director of The Valley Winds, a professional wind ensemble based in Massachusetts and winner of The American Prize in 2016 and 2023. His conducting has been recognized nationally, including with The American Prize in Conducting (Community Division), and he is sought after as a guest conductor, clinician, and adjudicator across the United States and Mexico.
Messier's broader artistic work includes transcriptions and premieres of major works, including Pivot by Anna Clyne—performed by "The President's Own" United States Marine Band—and the upcoming transcription and premiere of Antrópolis by Gabriela Ortiz. He also founded Valley Winds Publishing to disseminate new repertoire, with plans to launch a Mexican Repertoire Series in partnership with a major publisher.
Messier earned his Doctor of Musical Arts degree in Conducting from the University of Minnesota, studying with Craig Kirchhoff. He also holds degrees from the University of Massachusetts (M.M.) and Ithaca College (B.M.) in Wind Conducting and Music Education, respectively.