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Classroom Profile

Benning W. Dexter
The Michigan Alumnus 6

Joining the University School of
 Music faculty in 1949, BENNING W.
 DEXTER, Associate Professor of Piano, 
brought with him a varied and dis
tinguished background of professional
 experience. He has given concerts and 
recitals on both the east and west 
coasts, and in Canada, and has had
 many radio dates, including NBC
 national network programs. Too, he 
has served as a professional accom
panist in New York City; and while
 stationed in the Asiatic-Pacific theater 
during the early occupation, he had 
his own program on Radio Tokyo. At
 this time he also recorded for Columbia 
records in Tokyo.

In addition to this
 experience, Professor Dexter has lec
tured or taught at numerous institu
tions, and among his publications is a
 newly published work, with Professor
 Joseph Brinkman, on editions of piano
 music.

He was born in Oakland, Cali
fornia, March 11, 1915, and began his 
study of music at the early age of four. 
His undergraduate work was done at
 San Jose State College and the Univer
sity of California, and from 1934 to
 1939 he studied on a Juilliard Fellowship in New York City. Ten years 
later he returned to Juilliard and took 
their new M.S. degree. He has also
 done graduate study at Stanford and
 the University of Southern California. 


Professor Dexter taught secondary 
piano while a student at Juilliard, and
 he lectured at the Philadelphia Con
servatory of Music. From 1939 to
 1948, with the exception of his Army 
service, he taught piano and chamber
 music at San Jose State College. 


Among the organizations of which he 
is a member are the musical fraternity,
 Phi Mu Alpha, Michigan Music Teach
ers' Association, and Pi Kappa 
Lambda. Aside from his music as a 
hobby, Professor Dexter is an ardent
 athletics enthusiast from the specta
tor's point of view. He is married to 
the former Betty Barbour, an alumna
 of Juilliard School of Music and a 
professional cellist, and they are the 
parents of a daughter, Drucilla Dexter.