Shaughn Dowd, flutist/performer

Born in Northern New York, Shaughn Dowd’s musical history (the founding member of “con brio!“) began with playing the flute at the age of 8 with her father as her first teacher. She graduated Magna Cum Laude from the Crane School of Music at Potsdam, New York and has subsequently studied extensively with Murray Panitz, former principal flutist of the Philadelphia Orchestra, and Toshiko Kohno, former principal flutist of the National Symphony Orchestra. Presently, Shaughn studies jazz improvisation with Peter BarenBregge, former lead saxophonist with “The Airmen of Note”.  

Ms. Dowd has been a frequent soloist at various institutions in the Washington DC area with her performances heralded by the Washington Post as “sparkling” and “with engaging agility”. She is a member of The Salon Orchestra of Washington, an extensive freelance musician in the Washington DC area and is frequently sought out to be a juror for musical competitions having been one of the instrumental adjudicators for the annual Lions of Virginia, Bland Music Scholarship Foundation, Inc. District and State level competitions for over twenty years.  Shaughn maintains a private teaching studio in Vienna, Virginia and a virtual studio via Zoom Video Conferencing. 

The Work of con brio!

As the founding member of “con brio!”, Shaughn manages as well as performs with the ensemble.  con brio!, formed in 1989, regularly performs throughout the Baltimore-Washington metropolitan area. The group’s size and repertoire have expanded over the last several years with  music ranging from Bach to Bernstein. Praised for their “soothing sounds with a sense of humor as well as style”, by Bob Madigan – WTOP’s “Man about Town” (retired), performances by con brio! are thoroughly modern in style yet completely authentic in spirit, marked by colorful instrumentation and unusual arrangements.

In addition to its private engagements (see “Ensembles“), con brio! sponsors and participates in numerous musical events each season including appearances on established recital series such as the Live Arts Maryland “Bach+” Series and the Concerts at St. Anne’s “Thursday Series”, The Kennedy Center’s Millennium Stage, Georgetown’s Grace Church Bach Festival, Church of the Epiphany’s “Concert at Noon”, and others. con brio! was a featured artist at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts  “Soundtracks: Music and Film” festival. The con brio! Salon Ensemble, which specializes in Viennese and other formal ballroom music, was invited to be the guest performance at the Austrian Embassy in a special Viennese concert celebrating the 50th Anniversary of the American-Austrian Society.