Gwendolyn Dease

ABOUT

Gwendolyn Dease is professor of percussion at the Michigan State University College of Music. She is passionate about educating the next generation of young musicians and regularly gives master classes at universities throughout the US and abroad. She is currently on the faculty at the Brevard Music Center and has served on the faculty for the Filarmonica Joven de Colombia and the Interlochen Arts Camp.

Dease maintains a career as an active solo, chamber, and orchestral musician. She has performed solo and chamber recitals throughout the United States, Asia and South America. She is passionate about new music and has been involved in commissioning over 30 new works for solo and chamber percussion. She is currently principal percussionist with the Brevard Music Center Orchestra and has also performed with the Detroit Symphony, the Cincinnati Symphony, the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra and the Grand Rapids Symphony among others.

Dease is a recipient of the Withrow Teaching Award, the Teacher Scholar Award and the Diversity Award from Michigan State University. She was the winner of the Keiko Abe Prize at the second World Marimba competition and the top prize winner at the National Foundation for Advancement in the Arts’ ARTS competition. She was awarded the performer’s certificate from the Eastman School of Music and has also been the recipient of the Outstanding Young Musician award from the Peabody Conservatory and the Yale Alumni Award.

Dease’s discography includes four solo CDs: “Marimba Suites” and “Boomslang: New Works for Marimba” released on the Blue Griffin label; “Idle Fancies” released on the Bridge Records and “Beguiled” released on the Origin Classical Label. Her collaborative projects include “Textures” (Percussion Chamber Music by Paul Lansky) released on the Bridge Records and “In the Shadow of No Towers” (The Phillip Glass Double Timpani Concerto) released on the Naxos Label.

MSU Percussion Studio Website