Peabody’s Dean from 1966 to 1970 forged a long, celebrated career in music education and public radio advocacy
Pianist, music educator, and public radio leader Dean Boal passed away November 14, 2023, at 92, reported Interlochen Public Radio. In addition to a distinctive career in public radio, Boal, the Interlochen Center for the Arts President Emeritus, served as Dean of the Peabody Conservatory from 1966 to 1970, and became a familiar presence in local music communities during his time here.
Dean Boal would often deliver lectures about Baltimore Symphony Orchestra programs sponsored by Women’s Association of the Baltimore Symphony, which were held at Evergreen House. He served as a judge on the annual young conductors’ competition sponsored by the Handel Choir of Baltimore. He did a short teaching stint with the Peabody program at the Catholic University of Puerto Rico in Ponce, as well as teaching during summers. And in 1970, Boal was inducted into the Mu Phi Epsilon International Music Sorority in an Unger Lounge ceremony along with other faculty.
Peabody students referred to “Dean Dean” as Dean squared, according to his son Brett Boal, who noted that his father credited Peabody with bringing him into the international musical community and establishing lifelong relationships with important Peabody artists such as Leon Fleisher, Richard Franko Goldman, and André Watts.
During Boal’s tenure, Peabody made its debut on national radio in 1968 with a series of 13 half-hour programs, titled “Peabody Concert Hall,” drawn from Conservatory concerts and student recitals, sponsored by United States Social Security Administration. A February 1970 program on New York’s WNYC-FM’s “American Music Festival” featured a number of Peabody artists, including Dean Boal and his wife Ellen TeSelle Boal playing Earle Brown’s Music for Cello and Piano (1955). Baltimore Sun archives note the Boal husband and wife duo frequently played free recitals featuring modern and contemporary works. He performed one of composer Ernst Krenek’s two-piano works with Krenek during an all-Krenek Peabody concert in 1967.
In the March 1967 edition of the Peabody Notes, Boal discussed the then-recently created DMA program, and the spirit of his ideas are echoed in our ongoing mission to elevate the human experience through leadership at the intersection of art and education:
Historically, the D.M.A. degree is a phenomenon of the last two decades. It was first conceived by administrators as a means for determining employment, promotion, and salary increases for faculty in the performing and creative areas of music. Since then, the D.M.A. degree has become a subject of debate: Can an academic degree be justified in applied arts? Can the D.M.A. degree be equivalent to the Ph.D.? Can a performer be a scholar?
The recipient of the D.M.A. degree should be a seeker of knowledge, both musical and general. He should be committed to deep study in a specialized area of music. And he should make a significant contribution in original research and other creative activity. The challenge to the Peabody is to maintain the high standards which will stimulate the D.M.A. candidates.