Biography


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Timothy Dixon is the music director of the West Shore Symphony Orchestra (PA), Director of Orchestral Activities at Messiah College (PA) and is a regular conductor of the Harrisburg Opera Association .  He is known widely as an inspiring conductor, an engaging communicator, and a commited educator.

Timothy Dixon’s abilities as a conductor and his artistic vision have led to unprecedented growth in the West Shore Symphony Orchestra with audiences lauding their "thrilling" and "passionate" performances.  Audience members consistently appreciate Maestro Dixon’s warmth and humor as he introduces music from the stage and welcomes new audiences to classical music.  His youthful enthusiasm and keen rehearsal abilities have been widely praised by musicians of all levels, from student to professional.   Active internationally,  Dixon has been lauded for his performances with orchestras in Germany and the Ukraine and has conducted in the Besançon and Vahktang Jordania International Conducting Competitions.  

A consummate educator, Dixon is known widely for his work with student orchestras.  He frequently serves as a guest conductor for honors orchestras nationally, including District, Regional and All-State orchestras.  The orchestral program at Messiah College has flourished under Dixon’s leadership.  In just a few years, he led the transformation from a small college-community chamber orchestra to a program consisting of a high-level student orchestra performing major symphonies by Shostakovich and Brahms as well as collaborating with Pulitzer-prize winning composers, a chamber orchestra, a flourishing chamber music program, and an impressive faculty ensemble, the Mendelssohn Piano Trio.  In 2005, the Messiah College Symphony Orchestra was invited to professionally record a CD of music for the Kalmus/Masters Music label with worldwide distribution of over 30,000 recordings.  The CD was so successful that the ensemble was also invited to record discs in 2006 and 2007.  In these sessions, the orchestra produced the first recording of the recently rediscovered full orchestra version of Holst's St. Paul's Suite.   In 2007, the Messiah College Symphony Orchestra was invited by competitive audition to perform at the Pennsylvania Music Educators Conference in Hershey, PA.  

A passionate advocate for developing new classical music audiences, Dixon is also a popular pre-concert lecturer for the Harrisburg Symphony Orchestra, and has been praised for his family and educational concerts.  One particular series, the Circus of Sounds, introduced thousands of students to the instruments of the orchestra.  The Cincinnati Enquirer described Dixon’s audiences in these performances as “captivated.”  He recently began a series of well-recieved family concerts with the West Shore Symphony Orchestra, introducing both young and old to the power of classical music.  

Before moving to Pennsylvania,  Dixon served as the conductor of the University of Iowa Philharmonia Orchestra, and the Preucil School String Orchestra, an ensemble which has been featured on public radio and television as well as in international festivals and tours. Timothy Dixon has also served as the Music Director/Conductor of the Middletown Youth Symphony (OH), the Saginaw Bay Youth Orchestra (MI), the Michigan State University Musical Theater Department, and the Michigan State University Campus Orchestra. 

Timothy Dixon holds the Doctor of Musical Arts in Orchestral Conducting from the University of Iowa, the M.M. in Orchestral Conducting from Michigan State University, and a B.A. and B.M. in Music and Music Education, respectively, from Miami University (OH).   In academic settings and workshops, he has studied conducting with Kenneth Kiesler, Carl St. Clair, Adrian Gnam, Oleg Proskurnya, Leonid Korchmar (Kirov Opera / St. Petersburg Conservatory), William LaRue Jones, Leon Gregorian, Jacob Chi and Daniel Lewis.

Timothy Dixon lives outside of Harrisburg, PA with his wife, Roxanne, a music educator in the Camp Hill School District, his daughter, Delaney and son, Alex.