Brian Gross - Press (excerpted)

PUBLIC RELATIONS/MANAGEMENT/PRODUCING:

In the space of a year, the Abbotsford Youth Health Centre is serving a growing number of young patients and the demand is on the rise, said Brian Gross, AYHC development consultant.

"We didn't know exactly what the demand would be when we started, but a lot of youth need the services," said Gross.

Now open two days a week, it's already near capacity, said Gross.

In the first 62 days the AYHC was open, it served 122 young clients with an average of three visits per person, for a total of 319 appointments.

But the primary challenges are finding adequate, stable funding and a long-term facility, said Gross.

"There are a lot of possibilities for where we could end up, but that's in the distant future and youth need the services now," he said.

"We'd like a dedicated space, a one-stop shop where youth can access activities and other services and don't feel stigmatized."

Abbotsford Times, January 3, 2012

With more than 200 HIV-positive clients spread from Surrey to Boston Bar, Positive Living Fraser Valley Society (PLFV) faces the challenge of delivering vital services across a vast region.

To overcome the challenge, PLFV employs two support workers to provide mobile services to those unable to travel. This support includes transportation to medical appointments, access to food bank hampers, and regular check-ins to promote medication adherence and address other health issues.

“There is a lot of contact that we make through the support workers, especially with people who are most vulnerable or marginalized,” said Brian Gross, PLFV project consultant. “They are definitely 100 per cent utilized because of the distances we have to travel.”

Forecast - Journal of the BC Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS, March 2011

Brian Gross, of the Fraser Valley Positive Living Society, said the city's policies may be playing a role in the rise of some infection rates.

"Abbotsford's harm reduction by-law not only keeps proven life-saving materials, such as clean needles, from those who need them, but it sends the message to drug users that their lives aren't important," said Gross.

"If you find those infected with HIV and treat them, it reduces the viral load in a person's body to almost zero, making it unlikely they will transmit the virus. That means treatment is prevention, " said Gross.

"But there needs to be a way to make connections with high-risk populations and build relationships so we can help people understand the benefits of testing and treatment."

Some organizations in the city working with marginalized populations are being forced into the ethical dilemma of having to decide whether or not to distribute needles illegally, he added.

Abbotsford Times, March 28, 2011

“We want the program to be a safe place for our youth to explore their relationship to drugs,” said Brian Gross, a development consultant with IMPACT youth addiction and prevention services who designed the initiative.

“A lot of kids don’t reach out to adults because they are afraid of what they will do or say,” Gross said.

“If you are sending them the message that drugs are bad and evil and horrible, and then they take drugs and it makes them feel better than they ever have before, they are probably not going to come talk to you about that.”

Abbotsford News, June 14, 2010

Brian Gross, program director at IMPACT, an addiction and counselling centre in Abbotsford for youth between the ages of 12 and 24, said children in the community under 12 are actively using ecstasy.

"Absolutely. There are some that age who are using ecstasy . . . most of it has meth in it and we do a great deal to make kids understand that."

Children start taking drugs to be included, Gross said. "If there is a social group they want to belong to, and it involves drug use, they may be quite open to it. Kids want to belong," he said.

Vancouver Sun, April 23, 2010

Working with co-founders of the Goh Ballet, Choo Chiat and Lin Yee Goh as well as Goh Ballet Vancouver Society President Fei Wong and executive director Brian Gross, Toussaint and team have drawn up an ambitious plan for the academy's 30th anniversary.

Now Toussaint and friends want to ensure Goh dancers have a company of their own. This year, eight of the company's 20-plus dancers are paid professionals. Toussaint says the number of paid dancers will continue to grow.

Pique News, December 18, 2007

The Goh Ballet Company yesterday announced plans to increase touring and performances beginning next year. It's part of a three-year plan to create a more structured youth company. Part of the Goh's objective is to offer a transitional experience for young graduates, aged 17 to 25, as they move from academic life to the professional dance world.

"What this means is that the Goh Ballet, instead of exporting all of its talent across the world, will be giving an opportunity for this amazing talent to stay in Canada, in British Columbia, in Vancouver," said executive director Brian Gross.

Globe & Mail, November 23, 2007

Vancouverite Fei Fei Ye, 18, won bronze at one of the world’s most prestigious and oldest international ballet competitions. Bulgaria’s Varna International Competition cast an early spotlight on Mikhail Baryshnikov and Canadian Evelyn Hart, who won gold in 1980.

“High pressure with a big audience,” says Brian Gross of Goh Ballet about the competition. “It is not a lay audience, it is a ballet audience.”

Metro News, August 1, 2006

Brian Gross of the Goh Ballet Academy says, "Kostya definitely has all the ingredients to achieve a stellar career. His commanding stage presence and classical looks, coupled with his powerful and versatile technical ability, have already drawn the attention of the many adjudicators who have evaluated him for exams, competitions and scholarships. Most importantly, he has enthusiasm, passion and love for dance."

Hnatyshyn Foundation Press Release, July 17, 2006

Students of this academy have won medals at local, national and international competitions and festivals. Mr. and Mrs. Goh have... in the words of [Brian Gross], "served as a magnet and conduit for multiculturalism and cultural exchange in British Columbia".

BC Community Achievement Awards Press Release, April 26, 2006

Brian Gross has substantial experience working with heterosexual, gay, lesbian and transgendered youth, as well as homeless youth, through several programs. His role as a mentor is also that of an artist, and someone with shared experiences and conditions that he has known in his life.

Gross confides that some of the youths’ works are dark and resigned. He talks about Nihilism and its proliferation among youth via the “punk” scene. If they find life or culture meaningless or boring; if they find that religious or cultural values don’t hold up, that people around them are hypocritical, then they need to write about this. Brian feels that his students need a non-judgmental place to get these feelings into the open in order to get past them.

Noel Korten, Curator – Los Angeles Municipal Art Gallery, Exhibition Catalog - 1999

Deshawn Washington felt like a star when he grabbed the microphone with his left hand and began to rap just like he’d watched Tupac Shakur do a million times on TV. The only difference was that Washington was in front of fellow homeless friends last month at a youth center on the forgotten streets of Hollywood.

Westside Weekly, August 19, 1999

People who might never attend a theater dance concert found themselves racing up and down the mall to make sure they didn’t miss anything.

The Easy Reader, South Bay Life, June 3, 1999

Delves into the relationship between body and spirit, society and individual, life and death, change and stasis... through pure, expressive movement.

The Beach Reporter, Out & About, November 22, 1996

WRITING:

I believe this book could be a keeper that students will want to have in their personal libraries long after they graduate.

Dr. Roger D. Wallace, University of Scranton, January 2008

This well-written and entertaining book provides an engaging and informative look at the history and inner workings of our most important media expressions today. Well-illustrated and entertaining to read, if you are to purchase one comprehensive study of the mass media this year, then this should be the book.

The Journal of Popular Culture, February 2005

Brian Gross is anything but lost in his keenly focused, wildly naughty multimedia musical...

The Los Angeles Times, Calendar Section, August 9, 1996

Brian Gross is expert at conceiving over-the-top campy material... it is clear that Gross also has some serious messages to disseminate... but never becomes maudlin...

L.A. Weekly, Theater Picks, August 9, 1996

Gross’s writing is smart and positive without being preachy, and it’s laced with bursts of mysticism.

The Los Angeles Reader, Theater Section, August 9, 1996

Gross’s narrative poems burst with humor and insight, along with life-sized characters.

The Beach Reporter, Out & About, April 7, 1994

AUDIO:

So what do we have in Apocrypho? A new, fresh blend of music with a wide array of flavors. Like discovering a new drink at your favorite club - something different than others, but with flavors you can place from elsewhere - well-blended and arranged in your aural glass.

Legends Magazine, April 2000

Brian Gross’ music provided grist for shifting moods, in which sensuously sculptural tangos eased into confrontational moments.

The Los Angeles Times, Calendar Section, August 19, 1997

Set to Brian Gross’ sound collage, isolation, convergence and despair never looked so good.

The Los Angeles Times, Calendar Section, June 30, 1997