Paul Dean
b. 1966
Australian
Summary
Paul Dean is regarded as one of Australia's foremost musicians in his capacities as composer, artistic director, clarinet soloist and chamber musician.
He currently holds positions as Professor at Queensland Conservatorium, Griffith University, Co-Artistic Director of Ensemble Q and conductor of the Queensland Youth Orchestra. In 2025 he moves to the position of Kinnane Professor of Music at the University of Queensland.
Dean has gained a name as one of the most significant Australian composers and is now multi-award winning as recipient of the coveted 2022 Paul Lowin Prize for his Symphony No 1 Black Summer and the 2023 APRA Work of the Year - Large Ensemble for his Concerto for Double Bass and Orchestra. His Symphony No. 1 Black Summer was commissioned and performed by the Australian World Orchestra in its 2021 season and subsequently recorded and performed by the Queensland Symphony Orchestra and Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra. He held the position of Composer in Residence in 2019 with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, featuring the world premieres of his Concerto for Clarinet and Orchestra and A Brief History for Violin and Orchestra. In 2022 he was Composer in Residence at the Australian Festival of Chamber Music in Townsville. His opera Dry River Run was commissioned and premiered by the Queensland Conservatorium Opera School and performed in 2018.
Dean has been commissioned to write works for violinists Jack Liebeck and Anthony Marwood, cellists Torleif Thedeen, Trish Dean, Blair Harris and Patrick Murphy, tenor Andrew Goodwin, pianist Daniel De Borah, harpist Marshall McGuire, the Brodsky Quartet, the Flinders Quartet, Katie Noonan, the Melbourne Piano Trio, the Seraphim Trio, the Endeavour Trio, the Australian Flute Festival, Melbourne Chamber Players, the Orava Quartet, Plexus and more. He was commissioned by the Aspen Festival in Colorado in collaboration with the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra to write Concerto for Horn and Orchestra for Andrew Bain, which was premiered in 2022 by the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra.
His Concerto for Cello and Wind Quintet was selected by Musica Viva to be performed by Ensemble Q with Trish Dean as soloist on their national tour in 2024. His APRA Award winning Concerto for Double Bass and Orchestra was commissioned by the Queensland Symphony Orchestra and premiered in 2022 with Phoebe Russell as soloist at the Queensland Performing Arts Centre. His Symphony No 2 Youth was commissioned by the Queensland Youth Symphony and Symphony No 3 The Great Barrier Reef was commissioned by the Queensland Symphony Orchestra. Most recently his String Quartet No 2 was premiered at Melbourne Recital Centre by the Orava Quartet.
Biography
Paul Dean is regarded as one of Australia's foremost musicians in his capacities as composer, artistic director, clarinet soloist and chamber musician.
He currently holds positions as Professor at Queensland Conservatorium, Griffith University, Co-Artistic Director of Ensemble Q and conductor of the Queensland Youth Orchestra. In 2025 he moves to the position of Kinnane Professor of Music at the University of Queensland.
Dean has gained a name as one of the most significant Australian composers and is now multi-award winning as recipient of the coveted 2022 Paul Lowin Prize for his Symphony No 1 Black Summer and the 2023 APRA Work of the Year - Large Ensemble for his Concerto for Double Bass and Orchestra. His Symphony No. 1 Black Summer was commissioned and performed by the Australian World Orchestra in its 2021 season and subsequently recorded and performed by the Queensland Symphony Orchestra and Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra. He held the position of Composer in Residence in 2019 with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, featuring the world premieres of his Concerto for Clarinet and Orchestra and A Brief History for Violin and Orchestra. In 2022 he was Composer in Residence at the Australian Festival of Chamber Music in Townsville. His opera Dry River Run was commissioned and premiered by the Queensland Conservatorium Opera School and performed in 2018.
Dean has been commissioned to write works for violinists Jack Liebeck and Anthony Marwood, cellists Torleif Thedeen, Trish Dean, Blair Harris and Patrick Murphy, tenor Andrew Goodwin, pianist Daniel De Borah, harpist Marshall McGuire, the Brodsky Quartet, the Flinders Quartet, Katie Noonan, the Melbourne Piano Trio, the Seraphim Trio, the Endeavour Trio, the Australian Flute Festival, Melbourne Chamber Players, the Orava Quartet, Plexus and more. He was commissioned by the Aspen Festival in Colorado in collaboration with the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra to write Concerto for Horn and Orchestra for Andrew Bain, which was premiered in 2022 by the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra.
His Concerto for Cello and Wind Quintet was selected by Musica Viva to be performed by Ensemble Q with Trish Dean as soloist on their national tour in 2024. His APRA Award winning Concerto for Double Bass and Orchestra was commissioned by the Queensland Symphony Orchestra and premiered in 2022 with Phoebe Russell as soloist at the Queensland Performing Arts Centre. His Symphony No 2 Youth was commissioned by the Queensland Youth Symphony and Symphony No 3 The Great Barrier Reef was commissioned by the Queensland Symphony Orchestra. Most recently his String Quartet No 2 was premiered at Melbourne Recital Centre by the Orava Quartet.
Dean was the Artistic Director of the Australian National Academy of Music (ANAM) from 2010 - 2015 and is a Principal Clarinet with the Australian World Orchestra. He is a founding member and Co-Artistic Director of Ensemble Q with cellist and wife Trish Dean. Dean was the Artistic Director of the Four Winds Festival and the Tutti Beijing International Youth Music Festival and was also the founder of the Southern Cross Soloists, the Bangalow Music Festival and the Sunwater and Stanwell Winter Music School.
Between 1987 and 2000 Dean was Principal Clarinet with the Queensland Symphony Orchestra and has appeared as soloist with the Orchestra on over 40 occasions. He has performed as concerto soloist with the Queensland, Melbourne, West Australian, Adelaide and Tasmanian Symphony Orchestras, the Melbourne Chamber Orchestra, Southern Sinfonia NZ, Trondheim Symfoniker (Norway). He was guest principal clarinet with the Australian Chamber Orchestra for four years and has been a guest artist with the Navarra Quartet, the Doric Quartet, the Heath Quartet, the Australian String Quartet, the Goldner String Quartet, the Grainger Quartet, the Flinders Quartet, and the Tin Alley Quartet. He has performed as soloist at many Festivals throughout world including the Oxford May Music Festival, the Huntington Music Festival, Alpine Classic Switzerland, the Australian Festival of Chamber Music, Trondheim Chamber Music Festival, Coramba Chamber Music Festival, Camden Haven Music Festival, and the Melbourne, Christchurch, Brisbane, Queensland, Perth, and Sydney Festivals.
Dean’s recording of the Mozart and Brahms clarinet works for the Melba label, and the clarinet music of English composer Benjamin Frankel for German label CPO have won high praise from critics around the world.