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biography
Thomas Dempster was born in Sandusky, Michigan, and eventually settled in North Carolina with his family. An alumnus of the Governor's School of North Carolina, Dempster completed high school with high distinction and was awarded scholarships to study at a number of universities. He chose the University of North Carolina at Greensboro where he studied bassoon with Yamaha Performing Artist Michael Burns and studied composition with Eddie Bass, electroacoustic composition with Craig Walsh, and counterpoint and orchestration with Frank McCarty. He graduated summa cum laude with a BM in Composition in 2002 and was awarded scholarships and fellowships to attend the University of Texas at Austin. There he completed the MM in Composition where he studied with Kevin Beavers, Kevin Puts, Dan Welcher, and Yevgeniy Sharlat. He studied extensively with Russell Pinkston and greatly increased his output and quality of electroacoustic music. As of May 2010 he will hold the degree of Doctor of Musical Arts in Composition with a concentration in electroacoustic composition from the University of Texas at Austin.
His music spans a wide berth of styles and genre, from solo instrumental works to full orchestra. His chamber orchestra work camera was awarded a 2004 BMI Student Composer Award, and his work Four Movements for Saxophone Quartet was awarded an honor by Sigma Alpha Iota. His music has been performed extensively throughout the United States, and has had performances in Europe and South America. His electroacoustic music has been performed in a number of SEAMUS and LA-TEX conferences and has been broadcast as far afield as Denmark and Australia. He has previously served as an instructor at the University of Texas and the composer-in-residence at the North Carolina Governor's School. He currently teaches first-year seminars in popular music, art music, and critical theory at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, a position he has held since 2006. He is an active researcher, melding literary theory and popular music as well as analyzing the work of Takemitsu, Henze, Larsson, Smalley, and Parmegiani. His interests primarily include close readings of sub-popular rock music using gender and critical race theory, pedagogical philosophy in the electroacoustic studio, and harmonic analysis through a cultural theory lens. He is currently working on three articles: "A Closer Look At Dystopia: A Polyvalent Reading of 'Monitor' by Siouxsie and the Banshees"; "Envisioning a Lingua Franca for Electroacoustic Music Analysis"; and "Henze, Hoelderlin, and the Long Line: Poetics in Henze's Seventh Symphony". His article "Translating the Language of 'Wind Chimes' through a Smalley Lens" has been considered for publication by the Journal of SEAMUS.
Tom currently resides in Greensboro, North Carolina, with his cat Zarathustra and his numerous houseplants. Tom is an ardent film buff, a far-too-avid reader, and enjoys learning foreign languages as a hobby. He has also written a fair amount of poetry and short prose, none of which you (fortunately or not) will see here.
If there is anything else you would like to know, please ask Tom. He may or may not answer.
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