Harry Dean (musician)

Harry Dean (22 February 1879 – 30 October 1955) was a Canadian conductor, pianist, organist, and music educator of English birth. He was a particularly influential figure within the field of music education in Halifax, notably founding the Maritime Academy of Music and the Nova Scotia Registered Music Teachers’ Association. Among his important students were Howard Brown, Harold Hamer, Georges and Carl Little, Gordon MacPherson, Jocelyn Pritchard, and Marguerita Spencer. Life Born in Yorkshire, Dean began his musical education in his native country with Tobias Matthay. He then pursued studies at the Leipzig Conservatory where he was a pupil of Robert Teichmüller (piano) and Paul Homeyer (organ). In 1906 he joined the faculty of the Halifax Conservatory of Music (HCM) as head of the school’s keyboard and theory department. Two years later he was promoted to director of the school, serving in that post for the next 26 years. He also worked as a professor at Dalhousie University from 1909 to 1932. From 1907 to 1917 he was the conductor of the Orpheus Club and from 1919 to 1954 he conducted the Halifax Philharmonic Society. He also was the organist and choirmaster at Fort Massey United