Praised for his “smooth tone and melodic flexibility” by Melinda Bargreen of The Seattle Times, Dr. Chris Dickey has garnered a reputation as a performer, teacher, and adjudicator throughout the United States, South America, and Asia. Currently, he is Assistant Professor of Tuba and Euphonium in the Washington State University School of Music. In addition to teaching graduate and undergraduate tuba-euphonium studio, he teaches film music courses, coaches chamber music, conducts the tuba choir, and performs in the Equinox Brass Quintet. In the summers he is on the faculty of the Red Lodge Music Festival in Red Lodge, MT.

A passionate teacher and student advocate, Dr. Dickey is incredibly proud of the hardworking students in the WSU tuba-euphonium studio. Members have been prizewinners in regional, state, national, and international competitions. They regularly compete at conferences of the International Tuba-Euphonium Association and Music Teachers National Association. Former students perform in military bands and orchestras. Graduates have obtained teaching positions in public schools and colleges in the Northwest and other parts of the country. Other previous studio members have gone on to earn master’s and doctoral degrees. Dr. Dickey and his students have co-hosted the 2013 and 2017 Northwest Regional Tuba-Euphonium Conferences. Because of his record of teaching excellence, Dr. Dickey received the 2020 WSU President’s Distinguished Teaching Award, an accolade given to faculty members who epitomize the highest levels of performance and excellence and who play a vital role in teaching WSU students.

Dr. Dickey enjoys a diverse career as a soloist, chamber musician, and orchestral player. He has appeared as an invited soloist around the United States, Canada, Argentina, Uruguay, Vietnam, and China. He currently performs with the Washington-Idaho and Walla Walla Symphonies. Additional orchestral performance credits include the Yakima, Spokane, Mid-Columbia, and Missoula Symphonies. Dr. Dickey is a founding member of the In Motus Tuba Quartet, a professional ensemble specializing in recording and commissioning contemporary chamber music. He also performs with the Palouse Brass Company and the Crimson Brass Trio. As a Miraphone Performing Artist and Clinician, each year Dr. Dickey travels to play recitals and teach master classes at colleges and universities throughout the country.

Dedicated to music scholarship, Dr. Dickey’s interests focus on recordings, pedagogy, and brass literature. To date, his three solo recordings, Just a Thought (2015), Dulcet Voice (2017), and Inventions (2019), have earned critical accolades. The International Tuba-Euphonium Association Journal review stated his playing “features elegant and clear phrasing, delicate and expressive musicality, and beautifully captures the emotions and intent of the original works.” He and members of the In Motus Tuba Quartet have now released two albums, In Motus (2016) and Shadows: The Music of Octubaween (2018). Dr. Dickey’s compositions and transcriptions are available through Cimarron Music and Euphonium.com. His solo composition Movere appeared on the 2020 Leonard Falcone International Euphonium and Tuba Festival required repertoire list. He makes frequent contributions to the International Tuba-Euphonium Association Journal. Composers both at home and abroad have written works for him, including Elaine Fine’s Sonata for Tuba and Piano, Ricard Arbiza’s La Batalla Final, Evan Zegiel’s Triptych for Low Brass Trio, and Zachery Meier’s Azure Roads. Dr. Dickey also enjoys mentoring aspiring music educators and performers by giving presentations on brass 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. He also studied conducting with Mallory Thompson. While at Northwestern, he was 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. He 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 the National Association of Collegiate Wind and Percussion Instructors.

For more information about Dr. Dickey and the WSU tuba-euphonium studio, please email him directly or visit chrisdickeytuba.com.