College of Liberal Arts

University of Minnesota,

Twin Cities Campus

Dean Billmeyer

Associate Professor: Organ/Harpsichord

• 272 Ferguson Hall
• 612/624-3307
• E-mail: dwb@umn.edu

Dean W. Billmeyer is the University Organist of the University of Minnesota. He studied at the Eastman School of Music, Southern Methodist University in Dallas, and at the Hochschule für Musik und Darstellende Kunst in Vienna, as a Fulbright Scholar. He joined the faculty at the University of Minnesota in 1982 following completion of his doctorate at Eastman. Billmeyer has appeared as a recitalist and clinician throughout the United States, as well as in Austria, Ireland, Britain, Germany, and the Netherlands. His performances have included a number of premieres, and have received numerous broadcasts both in America and abroad. He is the featured soloist on the World Premiere Recording of Albright’s 1983 Oratorio A Song to David (Gothic Records G-49066), and has recorded Benjamin Britten’s Rejoice in the Lamb and Leonard Bernstein’s Chichester Psalms with the Dale Warland Singers (American Choral Catalog ACC 123).

Billmeyer’s performances have consistently been acclaimed by juries and critics in the United States and abroad for their technical prowess and interpretive insight. After being named winner of the First Dublin International Organ Festival Competition in 1980, he was praised by Irish National Radio for his “steely control” and “absolute musical and technical assurance and concentration. [Billmeyer] made an outstanding impression on us all.” In reviewing his 1989 recital at Christ Church Cathedral (following his winning Second Prize in the 1988 Dublin Festival), the Irish Times wrote, “[Billmeyer] showed why he had been so highly regarded by the juries. This was consistently intelligent organ playing, particularly strong in its grasp of structure. Phrasing and articulation were unerringly maintained, whilst elegance of ornamentation in the chorale prelude was particularly affecting. Nor was there any lack of virtuosic skills to meet the greater demands of the Reger.” And, in reviewing his 1995 recital at Southern Methodist University, the Dallas Morning News reported:  “.... Billmeyer can make an organ sing and shout in jubilation. The [Bach] chorale prelude’s main theme hovered over the accompanying figuration like an ardent lover pouring out his heart in a serenade. And the [D Major] Prelude and Fugue, Bach’s most extroverted, stirred the blood and set the pulse pounding.”

Equally at home with new music as with literature of the 17th century, Billmeyer recently performed Albright’s A Song to David (a 75-minute work with a complex, virtuosic organ part) in New York City with the choir of Trinity Church, Wall Street. This widely publicized concert commemorating the second anniversary of the 9/11 terror attack inaugurated a new organ at Trinity, located two blocks away from Ground Zero, and was broadcast and webcast live internationally over WQXR-FM to an audience estimated at one million listeners. He has appeared often with the Minnesota Orchestra, and performed with the orchestra in 2004 on its European tour in concerts in Vienna and London. With the orchestra, he has worked under notable conductors including Charles Dutoit, James Conlon, Helmut Rilling, Edo DeWaart, Bernard Labadie, Sir Neville Marriner, and Osmo Vänskä. Known as a skillful continuo accompanist, his credits as a harpsichordist moreover include performances of such major 20th century works as Elliott Carter’s Sonata for Flute, Oboe, ‘Cello, and Harpsichord. His recording of Dominick Argento’s A Toccata of Galuppi’s, as harpsichord soloist with the Dale Warland Singers, was released in 2003 as part of “Walden Pond” (Gothic Records CD49217), and received a Grammy® nomination. He performs regularly with his wife, pianist Susan Billmeyer, as the Billmeyer Duo, specializing in 19th and 20th century European concert music written for organ and piano.

In twenty-three years as head of the organ department at the University of Minnesota, Dr. Billmeyer has established himself as one of the most highly respected teachers in the Midwestern United States. At the University, he presents such core courses in the Keyboard Division as Organ Literature and History, Basso Continuo Seminar, and Advanced Keyboard Skills. He has also taught tonal and modal theory and counterpoint, and is currently researching the cognitive fundamentals of memorization pedagogy for organists. A Fellow of the American Guild of Organists, Billmeyer was the winner of the AGO’s S. Lewis Elmer Award, given for the highest scores in the nation on the Guild’s Professional Certification examinations, in two consecutive years. He has appeared as a performer and clinician at both regional and national conventions of the AGO, and has twice been elected by the membership of the AGO to represent the ten-state upper midwestern region of the Guild on the AGO National Council.