Hank Dahlman, D.M.A.

M374 Creative Arts Center
(937)775-3721
hank.dahlman@wright.edu

Hank Dahlman is Professor of Music, Director of Graduate Studies in Music, and Director of Choral Studies at Wright State University. Dahlman is the principal conductor of the Wright State University Collegiate Chorale and Chamber Singers and has been Director of the Dayton Philharmonic Orchestra Chorus since 1996. Dahlman is the Artistic and Musical Director of WSU’s annual Madrigal Dinners, a Dayton tradition for over twenty years, and is the founder and Artistic Director of WSU’s Holidays in the Heartland concerts, performed annually for filled audiences in the Benjamin and Marian Schuster Performing Arts Center in Dayton. Dahlman also serves as a guest conductor with the Dayton Philharmonic Orchestra, and founded the Dayton

Under Dahlman’s direction, WSU choirs regularly tour the U.S. and Europe, with featured performances at St. Stephan’s Cathedral in Vienna, the Salzburg Cathedral, the National Cathedral, St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New York, and for professional conferences of the American Choral Directors Association (ACDA), the Music Educators National Conference, Ohio Music Education Association, and the Ohio Choral Directors Association (OCDA). The WSU Collegiate Chorale is featured annually as guest artists with the Dayton Philharmonic Orchestra, performing major works such as Stravinsky’s Mass and the Bach motet Jesu, meine Freude, BWV 227, live in-concert and over Dayton Public Radio. Michael Velting of the National Cathedral has called them one of the best choirs to sing in that venue, and conductor Simon Carrington has said that Dahlman’s choirs sing with “elegance and style.” In the summer of 2006, Dahlman conducted the Dayton Philharmonic Orchestra Chorus in performances with professional ensembles in Prague and at the Salzburg Cathedral during the 250th anniversary of the birth of W.A. Mozart, including the Czech Chamber Philharmonic.

At Wright State, Dahlman teaches graduate and undergraduate courses in conducting, music education, and music history. As WSU’s Director of Graduate Studies in Music, Dahlman has overseen the development of two new graduate programs, the Master of Music in Performance and the Master of Humanities (Emphasis in Music), in addition to the Master of Music in Music Education. He is also the founder and coordinator of WSU’s Mad River Vocal Arts Festival, which each year brings over 200 high school singers and directors from over 40 high schools throughout Ohio to WSU for a three-day celebration of the choral art with internationally-known conductors.

Dahlman has appeared as a guest conductor, presenter, or adjudicator at festivals and conferences at the international, national, and regional levels in ten states, as well as Canada He is also the producer and host of VOICES, a radio program tracing the history, development, and current trends of the choral art, heard weekly on Dayton Public Radio and worldwide over the net at www.dpr.org. He has served as an adjudicator at semi-final and final rounds of the National Student Conducting Competitions sponsored by the ACDA, and was recently invited to be one of four experts on conducting pedagogy to be featured at the first national convention of the National Collegiate Choral Organization. Dahlman’s Choral Pronunciation Guide to Carl’s Orff’s Carmina Burana has earned reference as an “industry standard,” and has been used by numerous major universities and professional orchestras on five continents.

A strong proponent of music education and the training of young singers and conductors, Dahlman presently serves as ACDA Central Division Chair for Youth and Student Activities. Prior service to the profession includes two years as ACDA Central Division Chair for Community Choir Repertoire & Standards, six years as College and University Repertoire & Standards Chair for the OCDA, and several state and district level positions with music education associations in Florida and Ohio. He has been a member of the Dayton Philharmonic Orchestra’s programming committee since 1997. Active in church music leadership for over 30 years, Dahlman most recently served seven years at Epiphany Lutheran Church in Centerville, Ohio.

Dahlman holds the Doctor of Musical Arts degree in conducting from the Conservatory of Music at the University of Missouri-Kansas City, the Master of Music degree in choral conducting and literature from the University of South Florida, and the Bachelor of Music Education degree (magna cum laude) from Longwood University. Notable teachers have included Eph Ehly, James McCray, Rey Longyear, Wesley K.

Hank is the fortunate husband of Cindy, and the proud father of James and Amanda. He and Cindy recently completed their first marathon while raising funds for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. Besides his love of running, Hank is also an avid cyclist and golfer.