Kent R. Brooks is a veteran performer and music educator whose work has spanned over four and a half decades. He is a BMI-affiliated composer who was twice the recipient of the Waljo Gospel Music Award, and he has worked with award-winning artists across multiple genres. Kent has done extensive work with the Gospel Music Workshop of America as a soloist, conductor, instrumentalist, composer/arranger, and transcriber. He is equally adept on the classical and jazz stages. Kent is an assistant professor of instruction in the Department of Performance Studies in Northwestern University’s School of Communication. There, he teaches classes in Black gospel music performance and history, musical theater, and performance culture & communication. He is also the director of special projects in Northwestern’s Office of Religious & Spiritual Life.