Dr. Dean Anderson

Conductor. Educator. Musician. And the person leading our next generation of musicians.

Dr. Dean has conducted orchestras around the world — from Italy and Spain to Hong Kong, Thailand, Vietnam, Brazil and Argentina — and now brings that experience to the podium for the IE Youth Symphony Orchestra.

Dean has served as Director of Orchestral Studies at La Sierra University since 2013, where he conducts the university orchestra and works with developing musicians as they take their artistry to the collegiate level. He is also frequently engaged as a guest conductor with professional orchestras throughout the United States and internationally.

Most recently, Dean traveled to Pisa, Italy, to conduct Rossini's Il Barbiere di Siviglia in a production by Teatro Goldoni. His international engagements have included the Orquesta del Festival Guadix Clásica in Spain, Orchestra Filarmonica Campana in Italy, and professional orchestras throughout Europe, Asia and South America.

Closer to home, Dean has served as Music Director and Artistic Director of the Dana Point Symphony and Symphony Irvine for more than twelve years, served as a cover conductor for the San Diego Symphony, and performed with members of the Los Angeles Philharmonic.

And his musical world goes well beyond the traditional concert hall. He has worked with celebrated classical artists as well as names students and families may recognize, including Smokey Robinson, David Archuleta, Manhattan Transfer, John Tesh, Arlo Guthrie and Dick Dale. His conducting has taken him from symphonic masterworks and newly commissioned music to opera and ballet, including The Magic Flute, Hansel and Gretel, The Nutcracker and Peter and the Wolf.

One career highlight brought him to Walt Disney Concert Hall, where he made his conducting debut with Marcos Galvany's O My Son. Another took him halfway around the world, where he became the first American citizen to conduct the Ho Chi Minh City Ballet Orchestra in Vietnam. He has even conducted traditional Chinese and Japanese music in Nagoya, Japan!

PSST… We think he’s a pretty cool person to have on the podium on late Wednesday afternoons!

What makes Dean especially important to IE Youth Symphony, however, isn't simply where he has conducted or who he has worked with. It's what he brings back to young musicians.

Dean believes in challenging students, expanding what they believe is possible, and introducing them to music that spans generations, cultures and styles. Throughout his career, he has championed repertoire ranging from Beethoven and Brahms to contemporary and newly commissioned works by local and international composers.

At IE Youth Symphony, students aren't simply learning how to play the notes. Under Dean's direction, they are learning how to listen, collaborate, take artistic risks, perform with confidence and become musicians.

And because they are doing it in a university environment at La Sierra University, they get an early look at where serious music study can lead.

From the Inland Empire to the world — music can take you places.

And it starts here; at La Sierra University!

Dean is not just very talented, he brings an exciting blend of artistry, experience, and academic excellence to the IE Youth Symphony. With a Doctor of Musical Arts in Orchestral Conducting from UCLA, he pairs world-class musicianship with curiosity, energy, and high expectations—creating a place where young musicians are challenged, supported, and inspired to discover just how far their talent can take them!