Dennis Friesen-Carper
About
Education: DMA, Composition,Shepherd School of Music at Rice University, Houston           MM, Conducting, Shepherd School of Music at Rice University, Houston
Dennis Friesen-Carper is a versatile conductor, composer, and keyboardist with performances internationally in Chicago’s Orchestra Hall, Arie Crown Theatre, and Millennium Park, Cleveland’s Severance Hall, St. Paul’s Ordway Theatre, Seattle Opera House, San Francisco Opera House, Los Angeles’ Schubert Theatre, Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center in New York, the Grand Theatres of Shanghai, Wuhan, Qingdao, the Concert and Opera Hall of the Central Conservatory of Music Beijing, civic and church venues in England, Wales, the Netherlands, Germany, Austria, Czech Republic, Hungary, and Poland including Warsaw’s Lutoslawski Hall. A concert of rediscovered and previously unrecorded works for violin and orchestra by Joseph Joachim (Irish Fantasy, Hungarian Fantasy) with violinist/musicologist Katharina Uhde and the Polish Radio Symphony Orchestra of Warsaw led to a 2021 release on the Soundset label. In 2022, pip avirtuoso/composer Gao Hong enlisted his help in orchestrating, arranging, and conducting two new versions of her exuberant Celebration. The first for pipa solo and Chinese instruments with orchestra has enjoyed multiple broadcasts on National Public Radio’s Performance Today. His Carnegie Hall concert featuring prize-winning compositions and commissions for western orchestra with ancient Chinese carillon opened with his Li Yue Song and closed with Celebration for orchestra alone. He has led or prepared premieres by Sky Macklay (commission), Jimmy Lopez Bellido (concert premiere), Paul Cooper, Frank Ferko (commission), Zae Munn, Robert Edward Smith, Randall Davidson (commission), George Fischoff, Leng Censong, Zheng Enzhe, Michael Schelle (commission), Cao Guanyu (commission), many of his own and student works, and North American premieres of works by Barraine, He, Joachim, Pintos, and Wang. Notable soloist collaborations include Nathan Gunn – baritone, Yu Yuan Qing, Rachel Barton Pine and Mark O’Connor – violin, Julie Landsman – horn, Daniel Morgenstern, Kenneth Olson and Walter Preucil – cello, Lawrie Bloom – clarinet, Winston Choi and Nicholas Roth – piano, Zhu Changyao, Song Fei, and Zhao Huan – erhu, Liu Yuening and Xie Jun – yangqin. He has prepared orchestras or ensembles for Helmut Rilling, Dennis Russel Davies, Carl St.Clair, Witold Lutoslawski, and a chorus to perform with Sergiu Comissiona and the Houston Symphony.
As Reddel Professor of Music at Valparaiso University, Dr. Friesen-Carper created the student Symphony Orchestra, taught conducting, composition, ear training, improvisation, and conducted oratorio, opera and musical theatre. Guest conducting and short-term teaching engagements have included St Olaf College (MN), Indiana University South Bend, Goshen College (IN), Bethel College (KS), and the Shepherd School of Music at Rice University in Houston.
Dennis has served as Music Director for the Pasadena Philharmonic Orchestra and Chorus, and Indiana Opera North. Guest conducting appearances include the Jiangsu and Zhejiang Symphonies in China, South Bend Symphony, DuPage Symphony, Mid-Kansas Symphony, Elkhart, Kenwood and Wayzata Symphonies, Musica Sacra and Lake Superior Chamber Orchestras in the US. He has also worked as a guest conductor, composer, performer, and lecturer at Shanghai, Zhejiang, Dongnan, and Shandong Universities, the Central Conservatory in Beijing, Zhejiang and Wuhan Conservatories, Shanghai Conservatory and Preparatory School. From 2016-18 he played three international and domestic tours as Co-Director and arranger for Silk Cedar, a Chinese/American fusion band. In collaboration with Gao Hong and professors from the Wuhan Conservatory, he is creating a heterogeneous classroom method for teaching Chinese traditional instruments to English speakers.
Currently Director of Instrumental Ensembles and Composer-in-Residence at Gloria Dei Lutheran in St.Paul, MN, Dennis is active as a composer and arranger. He has fulfilled commissions for the Houston Symphony, Tucson Symphony, Zhejiang Symphony and Zhejiang Symphony Chorus, Houston Chamber Singers, South Bend Symphony, Southwest Michigan Symphony, Lake Superior Chamber Orchestra, and served as Composer-in-Residence for the Northwest Indiana Symphony, Lutheran Music Program, and Valparaiso University. The oratorio Innocents received the 2010 Arlin G. Meyer Prize.
His gospel-styled Emmanuel has been performed by all-state choirs in Ohio and Pennsylvania. A student of world music and the theatre, Dennis has created vocal/instrumental scores for theatrical productions set in Shakespearean England, the Balkans, and Baghdad. His works have been published by Santa Barbara Music Publishers, Augsburg Fortress, and Faith and Life Press, and recorded by Minnesota Public Radio, Platshon, Valpo ArtsMedia, and Pro Arte.