Dean Andersonis experienced in many musical styles, including orchestral, avant-garde, multimedia, and commercial music. Currently retired in Sarasota, in the area of the Indigenous Calusa people, Anderson is Principal Percussionist of the Punta Gorda Symphony. Mr. Anderson was Principal Percussionist with the Boston Ballet Orchestra for 25 years and a member of the Boston Pops Esplanade Orchestra for 42 years. He has also performed extensively with the Boston Symphony Orchestra and Pops, Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, Cantata Singers Orchestra, and the Boston Opera.

A great lover of contemporary chamber music, Anderson was the percussionist in the contemporary music ensemble, Boston Musica Viva, from 1972 to 2012. Throughout his membership he premiered over 72 new music works, recorded eight albums, and performed on four European tours through 14 different countries. He has also performed internationally as an electronic percussion specialist with Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Audiovisual Lab Artists and with the Berklee Virtual Orchestra.

In 1996, Anderson recorded Divinations, a solo percussion album available on Neuma records featuring new music by William Kraft, Shirish Korde, Peter Child, Alvin Etier, and Matt Marvuglio. As a soloist with orchestra, Anderson has appeared with the Boston Symphony Orchestra under Seiji Ozawa performing Nikos Mamangakis’ Anarchia for solo percussion with orchestra and the Boston Pops Esplanade Orchestra under John Williams performing Paul Creston’s Concertino for Marimba.

Anderson was also Chair of the Percussion Department at Berklee College of Music in Boston from 1974 to 2010 where he led the world’s largest percussion educational program. He also served on the Board of Directors for the Percussive Arts Society, and currently serves on the boards of the Sarasota Music Conservatory, Modern Marimba, and the Avondale Residents Association, taking an active role in the local Sarasota community.

Dean Anderson’s studies include degrees from the University of Miami and New England Conservatory of Music in Boston. He is a performing artist for Avedis Zildjian™ cymbals, Pearl™ drums and percussion, Gibralter™ hardware, Remo™ world percussion, and Vic Firth, Inc.™ sticks.

As a straight cisgendered man, Dean is committed to dismantling white supremacy by listening and amplifying BILPOC and Queer voices, examining his white privilege, learning new ways to decolonize, and making intentionally anti-racist choices in everyday life.