Focus on Friends: Dr. Brian Levels

Each year, Dr. Brian Levels brings his characteristic energy and vision to Friends Seminary as a Middle and Upper School instrumental teacher and conductor of the Upper School Chamber Players. Recognized for his deep commitment to students, he has been awarded the 2025–2026 Teri Hassid Art of Teaching Award, a testament to the inspiration he provides both inside and beyond the classroom.

For Dr. Levels, or Dr. B as he is known, music is never simply about notes on a page. He invites students to see their work as part of something larger, whether he is guiding fifth graders learning their very first instruments or preparing Upper School musicians to perform complex works. “You have to feel what you’re playing,” he tells them. “If you don’t, it is devoid of emotion—and the audience will know.” He often draws on vivid metaphors—planting a seed, tending a garden—to help students grasp that what they create together is greater than what they could accomplish alone.

Collaboration, community, and courage are central to his teaching philosophy. He encourages students to listen to and support one another, recognizing that learning music fosters empathy, resilience, and self-expression. His classroom is a place where all students, including those who may feel like outsiders, can find belonging and voice. This approach reflects both his own values and Friends Seminary’s Quaker ethos: every student has something vital to contribute.

Dr. Levels also brings an extraordinary breadth of professional experience to his work. An accomplished woodwind doubler, he regularly performs as a substitute in Broadway orchestras, at Radio City Music Hall, and with ensembles across New York. His expertise in flute, oboe, clarinet, saxophone, bassoon, and more makes him uniquely versatile. Yet despite a vibrant professional career, he prioritizes his role at Friends, reimagining music for the students and instruments at hand and ensuring that every performance has met his exacting standards and is meaningful.

Under his leadership, Friends’ music program is evolving in exciting ways. Student composers like Will Garrity ’25 have premiered original works with Chamber Players, while an Instrumental Studio course gives advanced students the chance to prepare orchestral excerpts and conservatory auditions. Dr. B is also developing ways to introduce more women and BIPOC composers into the repertoire, broadening the voices represented in performance and study.

As he continues to collaborate with his Performing Arts colleagues to shape the next generation of musicians, Dr. B remains as committed to teaching as he is to performing. “Music has the power to change lives,” he says. “If I can share what I’ve learned to create life-long learners of music that opens possibilities for students, then I’m doing my job.”

As this year’s Teri Hassid Art of Teaching honoree, Dr. Levels will share more about his philosophy and practice in a public talk, Beyond the Notes: The Transcendence of Education through Music, on Thursday, October 30 at 6 PM, open to the entire Friends community.

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Focus on Friends is an initiative of the Friends Seminary administration designed to celebrate the people and programs that make our community thrive. Each month, a member of the Senior Administration will select an individual, group, department, or office—uplifting those who are doing exciting work, leading with creativity, or simply contributing in meaningful ways to the spirit of Friends. This month’s story was chosen and written by Bryan Hogan, Director of Communications.