Eastman School of Music, of the University of Rochester, is pleased to announce the appointment of Dennis DeSantis ‘05E (DMA) to the newly created position of Associate Professor of Music and Technology.
An Eastman alumnus, DeSantis is a composer, percussionist, sound designer, author, and educator. Previously Head of Music Learning at Ableton, one of the world’s leading music software companies, he led the creation of the interactive websites Learning Music and Learning Synths. He also contributed to the design of Ableton products Live and Push and served as a curator and moderator for the Loop conference from 2015 to 2018. He is the author of Making Music: 74 Creative Strategies for Electronic Music Producers, a widely used resource in music production education.
Beginning in the fall 2025 semester, DeSantis will teach courses in music technology for current students at Eastman. He will also play a key role in developing new programs and initiatives as part of the University of Rochester’s SoundSpace. This newly announced collaborative center will be anchored at Eastman as well as in Audio Music Engineering at the Hajim School of Engineering and Applied Sciences. SoundSpace will be a hub for research, education, performance, and public engagement at the intersection of music, science, and engineering.
“Dennis’s deep work in many facets of the music industry, alongside his experience as a performer, composer, and educator, will be assets to our current and future students,” states Kate Sheeran, Joan and Martin Messinger Dean at Eastman. “We are thrilled to welcome Dennis back to Eastman to help launch SoundSpace with our colleagues at Hajim and throughout the University of Rochester.”
“I’m really excited to come back to Eastman,” shares DeSantis. “My time as an Eastman student gave me so many answers, but it also gave me the confidence to keep asking questions. I look forward to working with amazing colleagues and students to build this new program in a way that treats music technology not only as a means of production, but as a medium for imagination, collaboration, and discovery. I’m honored to be part of this incredible community again.”
DeSantis’ electronic music has been released on labels including Ghostly and Cocoon, and he has performed at clubs and festivals across North America, Europe, and Japan. His concert works have been performed by ensembles such as Alarm Will Sound and eighth blackbird at venues including Carnegie Hall and the Kennedy Center.
His notable projects include an arrangement of Autechre’s music for chamber orchestra (commissioned by Carnegie Hall), an evening-length electronic work for the Whitney Biennial, and an opera with electronics for the Staatsoper Stuttgart. In 2008, he received a Grammy certificate for his work on eighth blackbird’s strange imaginary animals.
DeSantis holds a DMA from Eastman and degrees from Yale and Western Michigan University.
Media only: Jessica Kaufman, Executive Director of Marketing & Communications
(585) 278-4743, jkaufman@esm.rochester.edu
###
About Eastman School of Music:
The Eastman School of Music was founded in 1921 by industrialist and philanthropist George Eastman (1854-1932), founder of Eastman Kodak Company. It was the first professional school of the University of Rochester. Mr. Eastman’s dream was that his school would provide a broad education in the liberal arts as well as superb musical training.
More than 900 students are enrolled in the Collegiate Division of the Eastman School of Music—about 500 undergraduates and 400 graduate students. They come from almost every state, and approximately 23 percent are from other countries. They are taught by a faculty comprised of more than 170 highly regarded performers, composers, conductors, scholars and educators. They are Pulitzer Prize winners, Grammy winners, Emmy winners, Guggenheim fellows, ASCAP Award recipients, published authors, recording artists and acclaimed musicians who have performed in the world’s greatest concert halls. Each year, Eastman’s students, faculty members and guest artists present more than 900 concerts to the Rochester community. Additionally, more than 1,700 members of the Rochester community, from young children through senior citizens, are enrolled in the Eastman Community Music School.
About the University of Rochester:
The University of Rochester is one of the nation’s leading private research universities, one of only 62-member institutions in the Association of American Universities. Located in Rochester, N.Y., the University gives undergraduates exceptional opportunities for interdisciplinary study and close collaboration with faculty through its unique cluster-based curriculum. Its College, School of Arts and Sciences and Hajim School of Engineering and Applied Sciences are complemented by the Eastman School of Music, Simon School of Business, Warner School of Education, Laboratory for Laser Energetics, School of Medicine and Dentistry, School of Nursing, Eastman Institute for Oral Health and the Memorial Art Gallery.