Hayes School of Music

Dr. Alexandra Dee is the director of orchestral activities and an assistant professor in the Hayes School of Music at Appalachian State University, where she leads the university’s orchestras and conducts performances of the Appalachian Opera Theatre. Under her direction, the Appalachian Symphony Orchestra has performed at the North Carolina Music Educators Association Conference and the College Orchestra Directors Association National Conference. Dr. Dee is also the Music Director of the Asheville Symphony Youth Orchestra.

Previously,  Dr. Dee served as Director of Orchestral Studies and assistant professor of violin and viola at Indiana University of Pennsylvania; Director of Orchestral Activities at the University of St. Francis in Joliet, Illinois; music director and conductor of Chicago’s South Loop Symphony Orchestra; and a cover conductor for the Joffrey Ballet, with whom she debuted in 2017 conducting the Chicago Philharmonic.

Also at home in the opera pit, Dr. Dee has conducted productions with Northwestern University Opera Theater, Manitoba Underground Opera (Winnipeg), and IUP's Main Stage Productions. She is a consistent advocate for contemporary music, having performed and premiered numerous works by living composers. In particular, she is a vigorous champion of the works of her husband, composer Roger Zare.

Dr. Dee completed her doctoral studies in orchestral conducting at Northwestern University, where she studied with Victor Yampolsky. She is also an alumna of the Florida State University, where she completed both Master of Music in orchestral conducting and Bachelor of Music Education degrees,  studying conducting with Alexander Jiménez and choral conducting with André Thomas. While at FSU, she was the founding music director and conductor of the Campus Orchestra, a string orchestra geared toward non-music majors from across the university community.

Link to Website: alexandradee.com