Chris Dickey, Tuba

Praised for their “smooth tone and melodic flexibility” by Melinda Bargreen of The Seattle Times, Dr. Chris Dickey (they/them) has earned a reputation as a performer, teacher, and adjudicator throughout the United States, South America, and Asia. Currently, they are Assistant Professor of Tuba and Euphonium at Washington State University. In addition to teaching the tuba-euphonium studio, they teach film music courses, coach chamber music, conduct the tuba choir, and perform in the Equinox Brass Quintet. In 2020, Dr. Dickey received the WSU President’s Distinguished Teaching Award, a system-wide award given annually to a faculty member who epitomizes the highest levels of performance and excellence and who plays a vital role in teaching WSU students. They were also inducted into the WSU President’s Teaching Academy. In 2021, Dr. Dickey earned the Edward F. Mullen Memorial Teaching Award from the WSU College of Arts and Sciences, an honor given to a faculty member in the arts, humanities, or social sciences who demonstrates outstanding commitment to undergraduate education.

 

Dr. Dickey enjoys an active career as a soloist, chamber musician, and orchestral player. They have appeared as an invited performer around the United States, Canada, Argentina, Uruguay, Brazil, Vietnam, and China. They regularly perform as principal tuba of the Washington-Idaho and Walla Walla Symphonies in addition to performances with the Yakima, Mid-Columbia, Spokane, and Missoula Symphonies. Dr. Dickey is a founding member of the In Motus Tuba Quartet, a professional quartet specializing in recording and commissioning new literature. They also perform with the Palouse Brass Company and the Crimson Brass. Trio. As a Miraphone Performing Artist, each year Dr. Dickey travels to play guest artist recitals and teach master classes at high schools and universities. In 2021, they earned third place for The American Prize in Instrumental Performance.

 

Dedicated to music scholarship, Dr. Dickey’s interests focus on recordings, pedagogy, and brass literature. To date, their four solo recordings, Just a Thought (2015), Dulcet Voice (2017), Inventions (2019), and Panorama (2021) have garnered critical accolades. The International Tuba-Euphonium Association Journal review stated their playing “features elegant and clear phrasing, delicate and expressive musicality, and beautifully captures the emotions and intent of the original works.” The In Motus Tuba Quartet has released two albums, In Motus (2016) and Shadows: The Music of Octubaween (2018). Dickey’s compositions and transcriptions are available through Cimarron Music, Hickey’s Music Center, and Euphonium.com/Absolute Brass. Dr. Dickey’s solo composition Movere appeared on the required literature lists for the 2020 Leonard Falcone International Euphonium and Tuba Festival and the 2021 International Tuba-Euphonium Conference. Composers in the United States and abroad have written works for Dr. Dickey, including Elaine Fine’s Sonata for Tuba and Piano, Ricardo Arbiza’s La Battala Final, Zachery Meier’s Azure Roads, and Evan Zegiel’s Triptych for Low Brass Trio. New commissions premiered in 2021 and 2022 include music by Katahj Copley, Juantio Becenti, Wayne Lu, and brin solomon. Dr. Dickey also enjoys mentoring aspiring music educators and performers by giving presentations on brass pedagogy, LGBTQ+ advocacy, inclusive pedagogy, financial literacy, and career paths in music.

 

Dr. Dickey received a Doctor of Music degree from Northwestern University as a student of Rex Martin. They also studied conducting with Mallory Thompson. While at Northwestern, they were the recipient of the prestigious Eckstein Scholarship. Dr. Dickey earned a Master of Arts degree from the University of Iowa under John Manning, founding member of the Atlantic Brass Quintet. They also received a Bachelor of Music degree, summa cum laude, from Eastern Illinois University as a student of Allan Horney. Dickey holds memberships in the International Tuba-Euphonium Association, College Music Society, National Association for Music Education, and the Music Teachers National Association.