About the Conductor
Dr. Theodore Dollarhide
Conductor, composer and music educator Theodore (Ted) Dollarhide was born in Santa Rosa, California, August 30, 1948. He began the study of the piano at age 7, switched to trumpet at age 9 and finally settled on the tuba as his primary instrument. Ted received his BA degree from San Jose State University where he concentrated on composition and conducting under Higo Harada. While in San Jose, George Cleve, Music Director of the San Jose Symphony invited Ted to conduct his orchestral work, Movements for Orchestra, with the San Jose Symphony.
In 1972, Ted began studies at the University of Michigan from where his Masters and Doctorate Degrees in Composition were earned under the guidance of Leslie Bassett, George Wilson, Ross Lee Finney and Bill Bolcom. Further honors came in the way of a Fulbright Fellowship for study in Paris, France, with composer Eugene Kurtz, as a Tanglewood Fellow, and as a finalist in the Kennedy Center-Friedheim Composition Contest.
Ted’s compositions have received many awards, performances and recordings. His works for concert band have been performed and recorded by some of the most eminent conductors in the band field such as H. Robert Reynolds at the University of Michigan, Eugene Corporon at North Texas State University and Tom Dvorak at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.
His thirty years of conducting experience have been an interesting vehicle in Ted’s life. They have taken him from the most elegant concert halls to the walls of the Nevada State Penitentiary where he led a male choir. While fulfilling the role of Composer-in-Residence with the Santa Rosa (CA) Symphony he also assumed some of the conducting duties such as the Tiny Tots Concerts, the Symphonette Concerts and the seven annual Nutcracker Ballet performances. He was also the Music Director/Conductor of the North Port (FL) Symphony Orchestra and conducted the concert and jazz bands at Manatee College in Bradenton, FL.
Ted will begin teaching music at Rogue Community College this fall. He moves to the Rogue River Valley from Prescott, AZ, where he taught at Yavapai College and was the Music Director for Sacred Heart Parish. When not involved in music activities, Ted is an avid horse person who believes that the best thing for the inside of a man is the outside of a horse.