Dominic Dousa

Dominic Dousa, a native of Rochester, Minnesota, joined the faculty of the University of Texas at El Paso in 2004. He is an Associate Professor and teaches music theory, aural skills, and composition. He holds degrees from Ball State University (D.A., Music Theory & Composition, 2003), Central Michigan University (M.M., Music Composition, 2000), Iowa State University (M.S., Statistics, 1998), and Harvard University (A.B. summa cum laude, Music, 1995). He also has studied composition in Prague (1995-96). His primary composition teachers include Jody Nagel, David Gillingham, Craig Weston, and Milan Slavický.
Before coming to UTEP, Dr. Dousa held teaching positions at St. Mary's University in Winona, MN (aural skills, music appreciation) and Rochester (MN) Community and Technical College (business & economic statistics). He also has taught music courses at Ball State University, Anderson (IN) University, and Central Michigan University, and statistics courses at Iowa State University.
Dousa’s compositions have received performances at recitals, festivals, and conferences in the U.S., Canada, Mexico, Scotland, Peru, China, Korea, France, Poland, the Czech Republic, and Finland. Highlights include a performance of his piano quintet Evocations from the Plains by the Biava String Quartet and Doris Stevenson at the El Paso Pro Musica Chamber Music Festival in 2009, and the premiere of his work for chorus, brass ensemble, and organ Love, the Greatest, conducted by Weston Noble in El Paso in 2007. Most recently, his piano concerto Estrella del Norte was commissioned and premiered in April of 2014 by the orchestra of Ciudad Juárez, Mexico with his wife Nayeli as soloist.
He has works published by TRN Music and Dorn Publications. Two of Dousa's song cycles, With a Song in My Heart and Six Songs on the Poetry of Langston Hughes, have been recorded by baritone Gerald J. Blanchard (with Dousa at the piano) and released on the CD With a Song in My Heart by Blue Griffin Recording. This CD features art songs set to texts of African American poets.
In addition to his activities as teacher and composer, Dousa has remained active as an accompanist and chamber musician. He has performed in numerous recitals at various universities and concert venues with faculty, guest artists, and students. He served as an official accompanist for the 4th Annual International Singing Competition in Trujillo, Peru in August of 2000, and performed as a pianist for the El Paso Pro Musica Chamber Music Festival in 2009 and 2014.