Outstanding Alumni - 2001
Dr. Dan Dressen
Bemidji State University Graduate 1973
After graduating Magna Cum Laude from Bemidji State, Dan Dressen taught in the St. Cloud Public School system. In 1979, he started graduate work at the University of Minnesota and earned an MFA in Vocal Performance in 1982 and a DMA in Vocal Performance in 1993. In addition, he studied with the eminent baritone, Gerard Souzay at the Ravel International Academy of Music in St. Jean de Luz, France and apprenticed with the Minnesota Opera Studio program. Dr. Dressen is currently a professor of music and department chair at St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minnesota where he teaches voice, lyric diction, music theater and in the college's interdisciplinary fine arts program. He is editor of an anthology series of opera arias by Benjamin Britten for Boosey & Hawkes publishing company, former president of the Minnesota chapter of the National Association of Teachers of Singing and current president of the Minnesota College and University Council on Music. An active tenor soloist, Dr. Dressen's operatic performances include performances with Washington Opera, Cleveland Lyric Opera and numerous performances with Minnesota Opera. For twenty-three years he has served as soloist with the Plymouth Music Series of Minnesota. Dr. Dressen has appeared several times with Garrison Keillor on "A Prairie Home Companion." Dr. Dressen has served on the Plymouth Congregational Church in Minneapolis' Fine Arts Board and Board of Neighborhood and Social Concerns, with whom he has volunteered several times for Habitat for Humanity projects. Dr. Dressen also serves on Minnesota Public Radio's Community Advisory Council. Dr. Dressen and his wife, Emily Comeaux, live in St. Paul, MN.