Braxton Shelley, T'12
Originally from Rocky Mount, NC, Braxton graduated from GarnerMagnetHigh School in 2008. Duke has been a space where Braxton's passion for music, especially African American Gospel Music, has become an academic as well as a performance; he is a music major and history minor. As a Mellon Mays Undergraduate Research fellow, he has conducted research on the African American Gospel Genre culminating in a senior honors thesis focused on the music of Richard Smallwood. As an undergraduate he was honored to have an article “Postmodern Gospel: Richard Smallwood’ Compositional Aesthetic” published in the 2011 Journal of the Mellon Mays Undergraduate Research Fellowship. He plans to continue music research by pursuing a PhD in music
theory.
In previous semesters, he served in musical leadership capacities for the United in Praise Duke’s gospel choir. Presently, he performs with the Duke University Chorale and Opera Workshop. Off campus, he has offered service in music ministries of several local churches. He presently serves in the music ministry of Mt. Level Missionary Baptist Church in Durham. Braxton has also had the opportunity to be a two-time participant in the W. James Abbington Church Music Academy of the Hampton Minister’s Conference and Choir Directors/Organists Guild Workshop. As a composer, he has been privileged to present original music at 25th Annual Heritage Music Foundation’s Annual Gospel Music Conference (2010- Los Angeles, CA) and the 44th Annual Gospel Music Workshop of America (Tampa, FL 2011).
The joys of being a brother and, currently, the new member educator of Alpha Sigma Delta of Chi Psi, Inc. are among the greatest aspects of Braxton’s Duke experience. Reflecting on this fraternal relationship brings into relief an important truth about the Reginaldo Howard Scholarship: it does more than pay for one’s undergraduate education, it affords the scholar admission into a close-knit community of students who are committed to both scholastic excellence and social awareness.
