Associate Dean for Arts and Humanities
Phone: 501.622.5237
Dr. Thomas Dempster is Associate Dean for Arts and Humanities and a Music Instructor and Director of Bands at the Arkansas School for Mathematics, Sciences, and the Arts. He directs the ASMSA Wind Ensemble, the ASMSA Jazz Ensemble, teaches private composition and woodwinds, and has previously taught courses in Music Theory, Music History, Blues & Rock History, Folk Music, and a course on the Beatles.
Since his arrival at ASMSA in 2018, Dempster has transformed the music offerings at ASMSA, developing a comprehensive music curriculum for secondary-level students who academically excel. As Director of Bands, he grew the Wind Ensemble to over twenty per cent of the school’s population and led the Wind Ensemble to its first ever Concert Assessment performance, its first ever Concert Assessment Superior, and its first ever ASBOA Sweepstakes Award. In 2024, he led the Wind Ensemble to ASMSA’s first ever statewide ASBOA 3A-Class championship title.
The Wind Ensemble has given the Arkansas premieres or world premieres of over twenty works since 2018, including student compositions and arrangements. Dempster established both a permanent Jazz Ensemble and permanent String Ensemble, and has directed concerts of highly experimental and improvisatory music, such as John Zorn’s Cobra, Julius Eastman’s Stay on It, Terry Riley’s In C, James Tenney’s In a Large Open Space, and Lexi Temple’s Thick Line. Student musicians at ASMSA have placed into All-State ensembles every year since his arrival. With his teaching career reaching into its third decade, he has taught student composers and performers who have been accepted for undergraduate or graduate music study at the University of Arkansas, University of Central Arkansas, Hollins College, Bowdoin College, Lyon College, Loyola University, Amherst College, Western Michigan University, Georgia Tech, Louisiana State University, University of Central Missouri, Wayne State University, the Peabody Institute of Johns Hopkins University, University of Colorado, Transylvania University, the University of Washington, the University of Memphis, Tulane University, New York University, Tufts University, the New England Conservatory, the University of South Carolina, the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, Colorado State University, Bowling Green State University, Georgia State University, the University of Maryland, Indiana University, and the University of North Texas.
As a commissioned, published, and award-winning composer, Dempster’s works have been performed in 41 American states and in 19 foreign countries. His music has been featured at concerts at the North American Saxophone Alliance, College Music Society, San Francisco Contemporary Music Festival, International Double Reed Society, New York City Electronic Music Festival, the Toronto International Electronic Symposium, the Irish Sound Science and Technology Association, and more, including festivals and concerts in Bolivia, Brazil, Argentina, Germany, New Zealand, Turkey, and Italy. He is the recipient of awards, prizes, and grants from ASCAP, BMI, Pi Kappa Lambda, the South Carolina Arts Commission, and Sigma Alpha Iota. He has held residencies and has been a featured composer at various institutions throughout the United States.
Dempster is an accomplished bassoonist and has performed with various orchestras throughout the Southeast, including the Wilmington Symphony Orchestra, the Florence Symphony Orchestra, the South Arkansas Symphony Orchestra, the Fayetteville Symphony Orchestra, and the Arkansas Symphony Orchestra. He has performed as a chamber musician or soloist at numerous contemporary music festivals across the country, including the SEAMUS National Conference, NACUSA National Conference, the College Music Society National Conference, the University of Tennessee Contemporary Music Festival, and the Electro-Acoustic Barn Dance. He additionally plays oboe, clarinet, saxophone, horn, electric bass, and jazz vibes.
During summers from 2001 to 2012, Dempster taught music and philosophy at the Governor’s School of North Carolina where he coached chamber ensembles, co-directed the wind ensemble, and served as composer-in-residence. He has served as graduate assistant at the University of Texas, and has held faculty positions at UNC-Greensboro, Claflin University, and South Carolina State University where he taught music theory, music business, electronic music, music technology, aural skills, composition, and bassoon. Additionally, Dempster has over forty pieces of music criticism published in a variety of publications, and has given many conference and festival lectures on contemporary music.
As an administrator, Dempster has assisted in the development and implementation of the Faculty Advancement Plan at ASMSA, has helped increase budgets for various departments, and has helped steered the ongoing evolution of the Visual Art Program of Distinction. In addition, he has helped expand the number of full-time faculty in the Arts, hiring ASMSA’s first full-time film and media instructor and expanding the curricular and experience options for both Visual Arts and Music. Since 2022, a record number of ASMSA students from within the Department of Arts and Humanities have placed in regional, state, or national competitions in visual art, music, and creative writing.
A Michigan native, Dempster graduated from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro (Bachelor of Music) where he studied music composition and bassoon performance, studying primarily with bassoonist Michael Burns and composers Eddie Bass, Frank McCarty, and Craig Walsh. He then attended the University of Texas at Austin (Master of Music, Doctor of Musical Arts) where he studied music composition and electronic music, working with composers Kevin Puts, Russell Pinkston, and Donald Grantham. He also studied music theory and conducting with various faculty mentors at UNCG and UT, though many of his most memorable learning moments came from performing in chamber groups, jazz combos, experimental and electronic groups, and punk bands, not to mention growing up a mere spitting distance from Chapel Hill and spending too much time on 6th Street in Austin before all the office towers took over. The first member of his family to complete a four-year college degree, Dempster received numerous scholarships and fellowships in pursuit of his education.
During his downtime, Dempster enjoys hiking and being outdoors, hanging out with his wife, gardening, lapidary, and making kiln-formed glasswares.