Dennis Keene

Conductor Dennis Keene is Artistic Director of the Voices of Ascension. Through his many concerts and recordings, his regular guest appearances as conductor and clinician, and his work as Artistic Director of The Dennis Keene Choral Festival, he has emerged as one of the leading choral conductors in the world today. His series of highly acclaimed recordings with the Voices of Ascension on the Delos label has secured international recognition for both conductor and chorus.

Dennis Keene grew up in Los Angeles, and began to play the organ at a very early age, holding his first church organist position at the age of seven. He moved to New York City to study at the Juilliard School under Vernon de Tar. He received the BM, MM, and DMA degrees and the Gaston Dethier Organ Prize. Dr. Keene spent the winter of 1977 in Paris studying privately with Marie-Madeleine Duruflé, Andre Marchal, and Andre Isoir. He was active as a recitalist until an interest in conducting led him to do serious studies in conducting (at the Pierre Monteux School for Orchestral Conductors, with Charles Bruck in Paris and John Nelson at Juilliard). His love for professional choral music can be traced to his work as organist with Gregg Smith, Roger Wagner and Margaret Hillis.

In addition to his work with the Voices of Ascension and The Dennis Keene Choral Festival, Dennis Keene is also Organist and Choirmaster of Church of the Ascension in New York. He was a long-time member of the Board of Chorus America (which bestowed upon him the first Louis Botto Award) and has served on the Choral Panel of the National Endowment for the Arts. In 1993 he began his recording association with Delos, International, which has included such best-selling CDs as Beyond Chant, the Duruflé Album, and the Berlioz Te Deum. In 1998 Maestro Keene began a major new summer choral institute for the training of conductors and singers: The Dennis Keene Choral Festival. 

Voices of Ascencion

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