About Us

Ashley Albert is the Director of Choral Music at Brunswick High School where she conducts the 140 member Concert Choir, the auditioned Treble Choir and the auditioned Chamber Choir. She also teaches both Beginner Guitar and Advanced Piano, and is the Music Director for all of Brunswick’s theatrical productions.

Ashley received her Bachelor of Music Education degree from the University of Maine in Orono, where she graduated Summa Cum Laude from the Honors College in 2010. She is an active member of the National Association for Music Education (Nafme) and the American Choral Directors Association (ACDA). Ashley has also taken on several leadership roles at the district and state level. She is currently in her fifth year as the Manager of the Maine All State SATB Choir, and served in the past as both the District 3 Mixed Choir Manager (3 years) and the State Chair for the Tri-M Music Honors Society. In June of 2021, she will be the President Elect for the Maine Chapter of ACDA. Ashley also spent three years as a Teacher Leader with the Maine Arts Leadership Initiative (formerly known as the Maine Arts Assessment Initiative).

Mrs. Albert has also had the honor of working as a guest clinician and conductor for several Honors festivals throughout the state of Maine, including the KVMEA Senior Honors Chorus, the District 1 Honors Treble Choir, and the All Aroostook High School Honors Choir, among others. Ashley also enjoys adjudicating for many district and state-wide festivals and competitions. Additionally, she has been proud to have her own students selected to numerous Honors Choir Festivals both regionally and nationally, including the District 3 Honors Festival, the Maine All State Jazz Festival, the Maine BOC All State Festival, the Maine Acoustic Festival, the NAfME All Eastern Festival, the ACDA All Eastern Festival, the Honors Performance Series Carnegie Hall Festival, and the NAfME All National Honors Festival. Some of Ashley’s favorite memories as a music educator have been performing the National Anthem with her Chamber Choir for a Red Sox game at Fenway Park, traveling with students throughout the country to attend festivals, and bringing guest conductors to Maine to work with our All State Choirs!

In her free time, Ashley is also still an active choral singer. She enjoyed singing with the Brunswick Chamber Choir “Vox Nova” for five years, and is currently performing with Brunswick’s newly formed “Una Voce Chamber Choir” alongside her husband, Drew Albert. Ashley believes that remaining an active member of a choral ensemble has been essential for her success as a choral conductor.

Together with her husband, Ashley is passionate about working on a broader scale to continue to make Choral Music in Maine the best that it can be. She has felt so fortunate for the support of MMEA, ACDA, and the tight knit community of Maine Music Educators throughout the years, and she hopes to give back more in the future.

Ashley is currently in her tenth year of teaching at Brunswick High School. She resides in Gardiner, ME with her husband Drew, their two crazy cats, and their daughter Eloise!

Brandon Duras is currently the Director of Instrumental Music in Brunswick, Maine where he conducts the two jazz bands, Symphonic Band, Honors Wind Ensemble, and teaches piano and music theory. A graduate of the University of New Hampshire, he received his Bachelor of Music Education in 2017 and Master of Arts in Wind Conducting in 2019. During his time at UNH, he served as principal trumpet in both the UNH Wind Symphony and Symphony Orchestra, lead trumpet in the UNH 3 o’clock Jazz Band, and performed in a student run brass quintet, The Ambrassadors. Mr. Duras has performed with the Portsmouth Symphony Orchestra, New Hampshire Philharmonic, and the Freese Brother’s Big Band. He has also appeared on three CD’s: one with the Wind Symphony and two with the 3 o’clock Jazz Band. Following his graduation in 2017, he traveled to Switzerland and Italy to perform on a two-week tour with the 3 o’clock Jazz band at the Montreux and Umbria Jazz Festivals. During his graduate degree, Mr. Duras served as an assistant conductor to all three concert bands and served on staff for the Wildcat Marching Band and Beast of the East Pep Band.

In the fall of 2019, Duras was appointed as the Director of Instrumental Music at Brunswick High School—a NAMM Foundation Best Communities for Music Education. Since he started at Brunswick High School, he has made a steadfast effort advocating for improving the already strong program through his work with the Accelerated Arts Program committee for the Brunswick School District. His ambitious and determined vision for his program will hopefully put Brunswick, Maine on the map as a leading program for music education. In addition to his teaching position, he also serves as the District 3 Chair for the Maine Music Educators Association, and the Maine State Chair for the National Band Association.

In his short career, he is already a decorated conductor with several national and international recognitions. He was named a semi-finalist in the National Band Association’s Young Conductor Mentorship Program (2019) the Warsaw Wind Ensemble Conducting Competition (2021). Duras was awarded third place in the 2021-22 American Prize Competition for Wind Band Conducting. Under his direction, the Brunswick High School Honors Wind Ensemble received third place for the American Prize in Wind Ensemble Performance and was named a finalist for the American Prize Ernst Bacon Award for American Music. In 2022, he was named Maine Music Educator Association’s Outstanding New Music Educator.