Biography

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Associate Professor of Tuba and Euphonium

Praised for their “smooth tone and melodic flexibility” by Melinda Bargreen of The Seattle Times and their “delicate and expressive musicality” by the International Tuba-Euphonium Association Journal, American tuba and euphonium player Dr. Chris Dickey (they/them) enjoys a varied career as a performer, teacher, adjudicator, composer, and speaker. As a recitalist, they have performed throughout the United States, South America, Europe, and Asia. Dr. Dickey is currently Associate Professor of Tuba and Euphonium at Washington State University. In addition to teaching the tuba-euphonium studio, they teach LGBTQ+ music courses, coach chamber music, conduct the Tuba Choir, and perform in the Equinox Brass Quintet. During the summer Dr. Dickey is on the faculty of the Red Lodge Music Festival in Red Lodge, MT.

Dr. Dickey enjoys playing the tuba and euphonium in a variety of settings. They have appeared as an invited performer at festivals around the United States, Canada, Spain, Argentina, Uruguay, Brazil, Vietnam, and China. They are principal tuba of the Washington-Idaho Symphony with additional performance credits with the Spokane, Yakima, Mid-Columbia, Walla Walla, Missoula, and Oregon East Symphonies. Dr. Dickey, an enthusiastic chamber musician, is the tubist in the internationally acclaimed Mirari Brass Quintet, a professional quintet devoted to programming, commissioning, and recording new music for brass quintet. Other ensembles in which Dr. Dickey performs include the In Motus Tuba Quartet and the Anonim Trio. As a Miraphone Performing Artist, each year Dr. Dickey travels to perform guest artist recitals and teach master classes at universities and high schools around the country.

Known for their engaging teaching style, Dr. Dickey takes great joy in developing the next generation of educators, performers, composers, and entrepreneurs. Dr. Dickey focuses on the whole person and instills great value in that student’s background, lived experiences, and professional goals. Members of the tuba-euphonium studio have been prizewinners in local, regional, state, and international competitions. They regularly compete and perform at conferences of the International Tuba-Euphonium Association, Music Teachers National Association, and the Leonard Falcone International Euphonium and Tuba Festival. Former students perform in military bands and orchestras. Graduates have obtained teaching positions in public schools and universities in the Northwest and other parts of the country. Other former members of the studio have gone on to earn master’s and doctoral degrees from schools around the United States. At WSU, Dr. Dickey is an award-winning teacher. They have received the Sahlin Faculty Excellence Award for Instruction (2024), the Edward F. Mullen Memorial Teaching Award (2021), and the President’s Distinguished Teaching Award (2020).

Also in 2020, Dr. Dickey was inducted into the WSU President’s Teaching Academy.

Dr. Dickey has many interests as a tuba and euphonium performer and is recognized for their effective leadership of multiple consortiums and new music initiatives in the international tuba community. To date, Dr. Dickey’s five solo recordings, Just a Thought (2015), Dulcet Voice (2017), Inventions (2019), Panorama (2021), and Crossroads (2023), have garnered critical accolades. Dr. Dickey has begun recording a sixth album that will feature the premiere recordings of new works by American composers. The In Motus Tuba Quartet has released two albums, In Motus (2016) and Shadows: The Music of Octubaween (2018). The Anonim Trio’s debut album was published in fall 2023 and features an exciting new piece for horn, tuba, and piano by Catherine Likhuta. Dr. Dickey’s compositions and transcriptions are available through Cimarron Music, Hickey’s Music Center, and Euphonium.com/Absolute Brass. Their solo compositions have appeared on the required literature lists for the Leonard Falcone International Euphonium and Tuba Festival and the International Tuba-Euphonium Conference. In recognition of Dr. Dickey’s sustained record of excellence in national and international creative activity, they received the 2025 WSU College of Arts and Sciences Mid-Career Achievement Award.

Dr. Dickey makes frequent contributions to the international tuba and euphonium community. They have written articles and new music reviews for International Tuba-Euphonium Association Journal. Dr. Dickey and their students co-hosted both the 2013 and 2017 Northwest Regional Tuba-Euphonium Conferences at WSU. They are committed to expanding the tuba and euphonium repertoire and supporting diverse musical voices. Composers in the United States and abroad have written works for Dr. Dickey, including Joy Zickau, Elaine Fine, Joy Zickau, Zachery Meier, Ricardo Arbiza, Evan Zegiel, Fernando Deddos, Mica Redden, Juantio Becenti, brin solomon, Katahj Copley, and Nicole Chamberlain, to name a few. 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, Music Teachers National Association, and American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers.