Every year, a hall of fame induction recognizes the alumni, educators and friends of the USD College of Fine Arts who have played an integral role in its 90 years of excellence.

One of the 2026 recipients is Brian Mann, an accomplished military musician, educator and USD alumnus whose career spans performance, operational leadership and ministry. Originally from Waseca, Minnesota, Mann earned a Bachelor of Music in music education from USD in 2001.

Following graduation, Mann began his Air Force career with the United States Air Force Heartland of America Band. In 2003, he won a national audition to join the United States Air Force Band in Washington, D.C., serving as a percussionist with the Ceremonial Brass and ultimately rising to the rank of chief master sergeant. He later served as chief of operations, directing more than 1,600 missions annually for the 184-member organization. 

Though he performed vigilantly while in the service, this path was not always his plan.

“When I was in my senior year of high school, I really had no idea where I was going to go, like most high school students,” Mann said, “but my band director Kim Cosens had a huge influence on me. He was an amazing educator; I respected him greatly. He said, ‘I think you'd be a great music educator’ and that he went to USD himself, so I went and checked it out and I was immediately drawn to just how friendly the professors were.

“I think it's kind of funny to think that going into the military was not something I ever even envisioned as a career path,” Mann continued. “I fully intended on going out and teaching when I graduated from USD. It was a former student who graduated before me who recommended auditioning for the Air Force band, which ended up spurring a whole career in the military.”

The mission of the U.S. Air Force Band is to honor those who have served, inspire American citizens to heightened patriotism and service and connect with the global community on behalf of the U.S. Air Force and the United States of America. The band represents the U.S. Air Force and its 679,000 total-force Airmen to a global audience.

Mann’s service included performances at six presidential inaugurations and the state funerals of former Presidents Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush and Jimmy Carter, as well as thousands of ceremonial engagements at Arlington National Cemetery. Internationally, he has performed at NATO Fest, an annual festival honoring the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and its member nations, and provided operational leadership for engagements including the Edinburgh Tattoo and Basel Tattoo, open air military music festivals.

Mann shared that his favorite memories of his career included the presidential inaugurations, but they were not what he treasured the most.

“I didn't take for granted that being on stage with a president is something that very few people get to do. I felt very honored every time I got to do something like that, but I think more prized than that was my job with the Ceremonial Brass playing funerals at Arlington National Cemetery.”

Mann reflected, “We would do hundreds of funerals every year—up to four a day—and to me those missions always held the most meaning. Occasionally we were the only people there saying a final farewell to someone’s loved one. It was a privilege to be a small part of honoring those families. We did them in all weather, so it could have been 100 degrees, it could have been freezing rain, I recall sleet getting in my ear during some of the ceremonies, so it was not easy work—but it was certainly very meaningful.”

Recently, he retired from the U.S. Air Force after 24 years of distinguished service. Beyond his military service, Mann is an active church musician and serves as senior director of worship at New Hope Church in Lorton, Virginia. An accomplished arranger and composer, his 2006 setting of Shirley Erena Murray’s “For Everyone Born” appears in multiple hymnals and was later published as a choral arrangement by MorningStar Music Publishers. He also serves as a lay counselor through New Hope, mentoring and supporting individuals through life challenges.

“I was attending there and doing some work with the worship team. An opening came up, and the timing was perfect, so I rolled right into that. I’ve stayed pretty busy still. I don't really use the word retire too much—I just say I've completed my service to my country.”

Mann’s ongoing contributions reflect sustained service, artistic excellence and mentorship, underscoring the enduring impact of a USD education. He highlighted several professors at USD who helped him develop his sense of musicality and playing philosophy. Sarah Smith Waters, DMA, was Mann’s primary percussion professor during his time at USD.

“She brought humor into everything. You can't take everything so seriously when music can be so much fun. I think I brought that levity to many of the things going forward in my life, even in the military. A lot of times there's not a lot of laughter and, not that I was known as a jokester, but I was known as someone who made sure that there was humor and fun interjected in our daily lives as we worked in serious situations.”

Mann also thanked Professor Christopher J. Kocher, D.A., who specializes in jazz and the saxophone, but met with Mann as an improv pianist. Finally, he paid respect to the late professor Larry Torkelson, longtime director of the USD Chamber Singers.

“His ability to conduct and bring out the music in people, I think, was second to none. It was a work of visual art, seeing him up there moving his hands; the music just exuded from him. That kind of musicality is something I always try to emulate in my craft.

“The University of South Dakota played a big role in setting me up for success,” Mann concluded. “I think it’s important to give credit where credit's due and the professors cared for me deeply, I could feel that. I was not just a number to them, and I tried to bring that same approach to people in my military career, so the members I led felt like what they did mattered. I think that had a real impact on how I succeeded. I eventually rose to the rank of a chief master sergeant and had the privilege of leading and mentoring others, but I always thought about how special and loved and nurtured I felt in the university environment and tried to pass that feeling on.”

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