September 21, 1998
FOR MORE INFORMATION, CONTACT: Kathie Barbour, (937) 775-2787
WRIGHT STATE UNIVERSITY NAMES
HERBERT DREGALLA CHAIR OF MUSIC
Dr. Herbert E. Dregalla, Jr., formerly professor of music and director of bands at Nebraska Wesleyan University, has been named professor and chair of the Wright State University Department of Music.
Dregalla has a broad background of training and experience in instrumental music and in music education. A native of Parma, Ohio, he taught in Ohio, New York, Tennessee and Nebraska before coming to Wright State. He holds degrees from Baldwin-Wallace College, the Manhattan School of Music and Case Western Reserve University. He has studied clarinet with Alan Squire and Herbert Blayman, and conducting with Henry Schuman, Dwight Oltman and Bruce Hangen.
From 1969 to 1971, Dregalla served in the U.S. Army as a member of the United States Military Academy Band at West Point, N. Y. In 1984, Baldwin-Wallace College awarded him its Conservatory Alumni Award for achievements in music and music education.
"As an Ohio native, I am happy to be returning home, and am honored to be appointed chair of the Department of Music," Dregalla said. "The faculty at Wright State University is a dynamic group of individuals, eager to have the department continue as a major force in music and music education in our area. I am excited to be a part of that environment."
As director of bands at Nebraska Wesleyan, Dregalla oversaw the university's instrumental music program in addition to personally conducting the Symphonic Band. His bands have performed all over the United States, including numerous performances at Nebraska State music conventions. He has commissioned and premiered new works by Robert Jager, Boyd Bacon, Randall Snyder and James Barnes. Dregalla was appointed chair of the Nebraska Wesleyan Music Department in 1994.
He is a former clarinetist with the Lincoln Symphony Orchestra, the Omaha Symphony Orchestra and the Nebraska Chamber Orchestra. He toured the state under the sponsorship of the Nebraska Arts Council, both as a clarinet soloist and as a member of the Nebraska Wesleyan University Woodwind Trio. From 1986 to 1998, Dregalla was the music director and conductor of the Lincoln Civic Orchestra, a nonprofessional orchestra composed of performers from southeast Nebraska.
In 1993 Dregalla was appointed the music director of the Lincoln Municipal Band, a professional band performing in Lincoln with a history of more than 100 years. In August 1994 the Lincoln Municipal Band, under Dregalla's direction, performed a series of concerts in Japan as guests of the government of the city of Matsusaka. These concerts included two performances at the World Festival Exposition in Japan's Mie prefecture.
Dregalla has served on the executive board of both the Nebraska Music Education Association and the Nebraska State Bandmasters Association and on the steering committee for the Nebraska Coalition for Music Education. During his term as music department chair at Nebraska Wesleyan, he was in close contact with public school music and was a highly sought clinician and adjudicator throughout Nebraska. He is listed in Who's Who in the Midwest.
Dregalla replaces Dr. Sharon Nelson who has been appointed interim associate dean of the WSU College of Liberal Arts. He is resides in Bellbrook with his wife and son.
Wright State University
Department of Music News & Events
Dayton, OH 45435
Kathie Barbour
cabarbou@wright.edu
(937)775-2787
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