During the course of her career, Dorothy Brasfield has been responsible in part for exposing more than 100,000 Mississippians to the fine arts.

Brasfield said during her 42 years as a music educator in the schools, she taught thousands of students, and for 15 years she was the administrative director of Mississippi Sings, a project that brought in students from all of the states to hear the Mississippi Symphony.

“My heart has been in promoting the arts,” she said. “We would bring the ballet in with the symphony. I have a passion, and I know so few kids in Mississippi are exposed to the fine arts.”

Brasfield now serves as administrative director of the Conservatory of the Fine Arts, a ministry of Holy Trinity, a position she’s held since the organization’s inception in 2006. Her history with the church goes back much longer, having served as the organist/choirmaster for 31 years.

Brasfield said when she first started teaching, private teachers taught lessons in the schools, but through the years, this practice became obsolete.

“I thought, wouldn’t it be wonderful if we could have something that would offer to these teachers and students somewhere in town where they could come and get what they needed,” she said. “We had people going to Jackson and Greenville and Natchez to take lessons.”

The conservatory began with digital photography, visual arts, brass, strings, voice and piano and has since grown to include percussion and guitar. All teachers are certified in their fields.

“I guess we started with about 15-20 students, and today we see about 60 or 65 private students a week,” she said. “They’re all ages, from 4 to 84. Anyone who loves that arts and wants to do something in the arts, we’re available to do it.”

The Vicksburg Orchestral Society is also housed at the conservatory, which leads to 140-150 individuals working with the conservatory some weeks. Brasfield is the president and CEO of the society.

Brasfield earned a bachelor’s degree in piano performance from Belhaven University and a master’s degree in music education from Jackson State University, and in addition to her administrative duties at the conservatory, she serves as a piano teacher. She estimates that over the years she’s had at least 200 private pupils.

“I enjoy people, and I love the arts,” she said. “It just thrills me to see the three cello ladies we have; two of them are probably 60 and the other one is 83. They’re wonderful at their age, they’re coming in and learning to play an instrument.”

For Brasfield, a love of music and the arts is in her blood.

“My mother was one of the premier piano teachers in the South, and she had her own studio at home,” she said. “I never remember not being able to play the piano. I think I started really playing about the time I was 3.”

Brasfield serves as the artistic director for the Four Seasons of the Arts and she previously served as president of the Mississippi Music Educators Association, president the southern division of Music Education National Conference and president of the Mississippi Alliance for Arts Education.

Brasfield has been a part of at least 20 musicals with Vicksburg Theatre Guild, where she played Madame Pizzicato for about 30 years.

“I’ve done it all with pride, and I’ve enjoyed it,” she said. “It’s known that if I take something and I’m going to do it, it’s going to be done right.”