Staff

Art Ostrander received a Bachelor of Arts degree in music from Bowdoin College in 1964, a Master of Music degree in Music Theory in 1969, and a Ph.D. in Music Theory in 1973 from Indiana University. He began his career at Ithaca College as a teacher of Music Theory and also served as Chair of Graduate Studies from 1978-1985. An active researcher, he co-authored the books Music Sources and Contemporary Choral Arranging, which were both published by Prentice Hall.

In the fall of 1985, he was named Dean of the School of Music, a position he held for 23 years until his retirement in 2008. During this time, enrollment in the school increased substantially to over 500 music majors and full-time faculty increased from 48 to 61. The Bachelor of Music degree in Jazz Studies and the Master of Music degrees in Conducting and Suzuki Pedagogy were added to the curriculum under his leadership, and a tradition of regular Lincoln Center performances began in 1995 and culminated with the Verdi Requiem in 2008, the fifth concert in this series. Several endowed concert series were created during his tenure and he organized four Ireland tours that began in 2001 featuring the Choir, Chamber Orchestra, Women’s Chorale, and Wind Ensemble. Having garnered the support of the President and the Board of Trustees, Dean Ostrander received approval to lead the design and construction of the Whalen Center for Music that was completed in 1999, and which created one of the finest music facilities in the country. The Dean was very active nationally in NASM, the National Association of Schools of Music, serving a term as chair of Region Six and as a re-accreditation senior evaluator. At the time of his retirement, his 23 years as dean was the longest deanship in the history of the School of Music.