WHO WE ARE

Brian Young
Founder and President

Brian Young's career as a recording engineer, sound reinforcement engineer and music/event producer spans more than thirty years and includes records, commercials, concerts, theater, and a wide variety of special events. In 2003, Brian founded Parallel Voice Productions as a result of his experience as co-producer of The Cathedral of St. John the Divine's Candlelight Concert of Remembrance and Hope. The September 11, 2002, interfaith memorial service and concert included performances by Joan Osborne, Richie Havens, Sussan Deyhim, Jason Robert Brown, DJ Spooky, Pharaoh's Daughter, Bang on a Can, and others. The impact of this event led to the development of the " Songs of the Spirit" concert series, presented at the Cathedral and at other venues throughout the Northeast from 2005 through 2008 (www.songsofthespiritconcert.org).

On the stage and in the studio, Brian has worked with a wide range of artists, including: Ray Charles, Yoko Ono, B.B. King, Tito Puente, Arlo Guthrie, Kool Moe Dee, Louis CK, Ron White, John Oliver, Southside Johnny, Ron Carter, Ruth Brown, Pinetop Perkins, Hubert Sumlin, Danny Kalb, Michael Hill's Blues Mob, Lucinda Williams, Vernon Reid, Bill Frisell, Bobby Sanabria, Guy Davis, Whoopi Goldberg, Paquito D'Rivera, Joan Baez, Jon Faddis, Sergio & Odair Assad, Leon Redbone, Nona Hendryx, Judy Collins, Henry Threadgill, Craig Harris, Regina Carter, Louis Andriessen, Tom Russell, Lionel Hampton, Lily Tomlin, Julie Andrews, the Brooklyn Philharmonic Orchestra, the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra, and The Smothers Brothers. His recordings & mixes can be heard on a variety of major and independent record labels, including Motown, MCA, Jive, Alligator, Flying Fish and RSO.

Brian has also provided audio and production support for large-scale corporate functions and special events for clients such as Met Life, Canon, IBM, Johnson & Johnson, Pfizer, Colgate-Palmolive, Calvin Klein, Sky TV, CBS, The American Cancer Society and the White House Communications Agency.

Brian's work as a writer/producer includes campaign ads for members of the New York State Legislature. Among his charitable activities are the writing and production of public service announcements for the non-profit organization Cancer Care, including a New Jersey radio campaign that featured Jon Bon Jovi. A songwriter, keyboardist and drummer on the side, Brian's pursuits include an eclectic range of musical adventures.

Brian spent the early 1980s as a staff engineer at Quad Recording Studios in New York City, where he has also worked as a theatrical sound designer. Brian began his audio career working as an engineer for WWVA Radio's "Jamboree USA" at the Capitol Music Hall in Wheeling, West Virginia - where, as a much younger country music fan, he was thrilled by the opportunity to run the 12-channel mixing board for live performances by such legendary artists as Kenny Rogers, Dolly Parton, Merle Haggard and Jerry Lee Lewis.

Having spent many years in a multitude of recording studios and performing arts venues (and airports and hotels), Brian now lives on a quiet, suburban New Jersey street where he enjoys writing/producing in his home recording studio and helping his wife and kids manage their hyperactive Australian cattle dog.

Jonathan Secor/Secor Productions
Songs of the Spirit Co-Director & Co-Producer

Jonathan Secor has worked in the creative sector as a producer, director, general manager, production manager, and stage manager. He has managed and directed a wide variety of performing arts and humanitarian projects, ranging from non-profit community efforts to large-scale commercial projects with budgets in the millions.

Since 1995, Jonathan's production company, Secor Productions, has produced concerts, dance, theater, large-scale, site-specific performances, industrials, and special events. Past events include: the Candlelight Concert of Remembrance and Hope at New York City's Cathedral of St. John the Divine, the national tour of The Harlem Nutcracker, the Welcome Back to Brooklyn Festival, the Gay and Lesbian American Music Awards (GLAMA), and a variety of industrials and corporate events. Secor Productions served as the consulting firm for the design, construction, and outfitting of the four performing arts spaces at MASS MoCA in North Adams, MA.

Jonathan served as the Director of Performing Arts at MASS MoCA from its opening until 2005. At MoCA, Jonathan oversaw the presentation of renowned artists such as Patti Smith, Bill T. Jones, Steve Earle, Dr. John, Wynton Marsalis, Joan Baez, Los Lobos, Merce Cunningham, Robert Lepage, Sekou Sundiata, Laurie Anderson, Philip Glass, and DJ Spooky.

From 1997 until 1998, Jonathan was General Manager for 651, an Arts Center in Brooklyn, NY, where he presented an eight-show season that included collaborations with NJPAC and the Smithsonian Institution.

From the mid 1980s until the mid 1990s, Jonathan worked as a production manager throughout the United States and Europe. Artists and institutions he served include: Celebrate Brooklyn, Arts at St. Ann's, Orion Films, Donald Byrd, BAM, Manhattan Punch Line, and PepsiCo Summerfare.

Jonathan started his professional career as a stage manager in 1979. He has stage managed hundreds of productions for institutions and clients such as the Yale Repertory Theater, Columbia Artists, Center Stage Theater, BAM, Sid Caesar and Company (Broadway), WNET's Broadway Sings: The Music of Jule Styne, The San Francisco Opera Company, and Equity Library Theater.

Brian Young and Jonathan Secor have collaborated on multiple projects spanning more than a decade. In addition to co-producing Songs of the Spirit, they worked together on the Candlelight Concert of Remembrance and Hope, the Celebrate Brooklyn Festival, and on many projects at the Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM).