Dr. Geoffrey Dean, ASA Director

Geoffrey Dean is a cellist, conductor, and composer with over thirty years of performing and teaching experience on both sides of the Atlantic. Originally from San Francisco, he is a graduate of the University of North Carolina School of the Arts (BM in cello performance, 1989) and Indiana University School of Music (MM in cello performance with a minor in conducting, 1991). For more than two decades he was based in Sofia, Bulgaria, serving on the music faculty of the American University in Bulgaria and performing internationally as the cellist of the Sofia Quartet, resident chamber ensemble of the Sofia Philharmonic Orchestra. While in Europe, he earned a post-graduate conducting diploma under the distinguished Bulgarian maestro Georgi Dimitrov and a doctorate in philosophy of music at Sofia University. Dr. Dean has appeared as cello soloist with leading Bulgarian orchestras, conducted regularly at Bulgarian National Radio, and was twice awarded the Crystal Lyre national prize for his contributions to Bulgarian musical culture.

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          Since returning to the United States in 2014, Dr. Dean has devoted himself to sharing his expertise with younger aspiring musicians, first at the American International School of Utah, and since 2018 as orchestra director at Parnassus Preparatory School in Maple Grove (grades 5-12). At Parnassus the string program has grown significantly under his direction, and Dr. Dean credits the dedication and enthusiasm of his students as a daily source of inspiration for his continuing creativity, most recently as the composer of string orchestra works such as Apollonian Riffs. In the fall of 2022, a group of Parnassus graduates suggested he start a community string orchestra program serving the northwest metro—and so the Ardenza String Academy came into existence.

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          You can hear some of Dr. Dean’s recent cello performances on his YouTube channel. To read about his research into US cello history, check out his schroeder170.org website and blog.