DEAN PETERSON, Chorale Director

Dean Peterson, is in his 6th year as Director of the Missoula Symphony Chorale. He recently retired as Director of Choirs at Hellgate High School, where he taught for 25 years. He will serve as interim Director of Choirs at the University of Montana for the 2011–2012 academic year, and recently accepted the position as conductor of the Missoula Mendelssohn Club.

Dean received his Bachelor degrees in Music Education and Piano Performance from the University of Montana, and his Masters degree in Music Education with Kodaly emphasis from Holy Names College in Oakland, CA. In 1987 he co-founded the Missoula Youth Choir and has since co-directed the group in all eight of their performances in the Missoula International Choral Festival.

In 1992 he was selected to sing in the Robert Shaw Choral Workshop and Performance of the Beethoven Missa Solemnis in Carnegie Hall. In 1997 he received a $25,000 National Milken Educator of the Year Award, and in 2004, his Hellgate Chevaliers were selected to perform at the Northwest Convention of the American Choral Directors Association in Boise, Idaho.

Dean was recently recognized by the National Federation of High Schools as the 2010-2011 Outstanding Music Educator for Montana and the Northwest region. In March 2011, he was named Missoula Arts Educator of the Year by the Missoula Cultural Council and most recently received the 2011 Distinguished Service Award for the Montana Music Educators Association.

Dean is a member and past president of the Montana Choral Directors Association, a member of the Montana Music Educators Association, a member of the Board of Directors for the Missoula International Choral Festival and is a past member of the Montana High School Association Music Committee. He and his wife, Dorothy have been very active musically in Missoula for over 30 years and are the proud parents of two children Ross, 23 and Elin, 18.