Brenda Maurice Vanderford received the B. Mus. Degree from Oberlin College majoring in organ performance. Her junior year she studied at the Mozarteum in Salzburg, Austria. She did her graduate work at Northwestern University and then taught for one year at Tuskegee Institute, also accompanying the well-known Tuskegee Concert Choir. After coming to West Virginia State she received a Fulbright scholarship to study in Cologne, Germany. She has concertized in Germany and the United States and was the first West Virginian to give an organ recital at the National Cathedral in Washington D.C. In 2012, she received a commendation from Governor Earl Ray Tomlin naming her a Distinguisehd Mountaineer. Professor Vanderford teaches General Studies and coordinates all concert and recital performances within the Music Department.