Dorothy Jorgensen Brown: Musician, Educator, and Outstanding Woodwind Player

Dorothy Jorgensen Brown (1918-1985) was born in 1918 to George and Florence Horsley Jorgensen. Florence Jorgensen was a musician who taught her children to sing and play the piano and organized what is likely the first Singing Mothers group in the LDS Church. Despite being frequently ill as a child, Dorothy excelled in musical pursuits. She began piano lessons at age eight with Udella Williams, and later studied under Udella's husband, E.M. Toot Williams. E.M. Williams was the legendary band director at Carbon County High School and Carbon College who won regional and national competitions. Dorothy notes that her initial shyness led her to rely on her sister to play her pieces, which hampered her sight-reading ability and caused her to play more by ear. However, this led to a strong memorization ability that helped in her later music directing. She later became a skilled oboe player. As a high school senior, Dorothy and Max Dalby were named the outstanding woodwind players in the Intermountain States Region. She graduated with honors and a four-year scholarship to BYU, where she played 1st chair oboe in Leroy Robertson's symphony orchestra. She later married Deane Brown, and after his military service, they returned to Price. Dorothy taught briefly at Carbon College before joining Carbon High School, where she developed a legendary, award-winning choir. The text quotes Dorothy about the Williams family's move to Price in 1923, which greatly benefited the community's culture. She mentions E.M. Toot Williams' 45-piece band winning a competition in Grand Junction, Colorado, in 1928, which brought the contest to Price the next year.