Dean Ellis
Snavely D.M.A.
Musician
N E W S
New Teaching Position
About
"Thank you Dean for helping promote my book and telling the story of our fight for the cause! "Big Prez" is looking out for you!"
Clark Terry, Jazz Trumpeter
"Thanks again for all the work you did on this project. The piece doesn't exist unless dedicated players and conductors bring it to life"
Timothy Broege, Composer
"Thank you for your excellent work with my band. They really enjoyed your approach and the constructive criticism."
​Randy Hubbs, Director of Jazz, Columbia Basin College
"If we had a high school jazz band like this when I was a kid, I would..... probably be doing the same thing I am now! But MAN, that band was swinging!!"
Francisco Torres, Trombone - Gordon Goodwin Phat Band, Musical Director for Pancho Sanchez
Welcome to the website for Dr. Dean Snavely!I am a musician/educator who loves finding ways to connect humans to music in dynamic ways to foster a lifelong love for the arts!​
I am a specialist in low brass, with a focus on the Tuba, Trombone, and Bass Trombone. I also teach and play guitar, and am currently in the process of learning and promoting American folk music and the art of the Hootenanny (more about that in the news section).​
Most importantly, I am a father and husband! Life is defined by the journeys we choose to follow. We are currently enjoying a great time of music-making with the whole family and invite you all to join us in the community of collaborative creation!
Friends
I am excited to announce that I am moving to a wonderful new district to follow a master teacher following his retirement! Not only is the district wonderfully supportive of the arts, but this new position will provide me with the opportunity to return to playing my instruments and embarking on some exciting new research projects!
Community Music Making!
Join the amazing John Sanders (accordion), Heather Chriscaden, Greg Williamson, and me for an old-fashioned Hootenanny! We will be at Pro-Ski in North Bend, WA, from 7-10 pm at the Haystack Music Festival! Click the image below for tickets and info. Please bring your gip fiddle, washboard, mouth harps, your voice, and your dancing shoes!! It will be a community music making event!
New Research Project
I based my early bass trombone playing style on the great George Roberts. I have secured a 1953 Conn 70H single trigger bass trombone (the model he played for the majority of his career) and will be putting together a collection of badly needed bass trombone features! This project will likely take a couple of years to complete, but in the end the goal is to have 8-12 charts, a quality recording, and clinics and performance opportunities! There will be a dedicated page for this project when enough preliminary research has been completed.
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My article "Honest Answers" was published in the September 2017 issue of The Instrumentalist. I am happy to announce that the North Dakota Music Educators Association have requested re-print rights for the article in their next state journal!
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I am regularly taken aback with the extreme talent that I am surrounded both at my job and in my program at UNLV. One of these people is the composer/arranger Anthony LaBounty. He recently arranged "Sweet Georgia Brown" for wind band and solo tuba, and I was extremely fortunate to be asked to be the soloist for the recording for Alfred publishing. The link below is the recording that will be the reference recording for the arrangement.
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