Dodson, Keith

Dr. Keith Dodson is currently Director of Orchestral Activities and Assistant Professor of Conducting at Central Michigan University in Mount Pleasant, Michigan. Additionally, he was the founding Music Director and Conductor of the Chamber Orchestra of the Smoky Valley, a professional orchestra based in Central Kansas. Dr. Dodson completed his PhD in Music Education with an emphasis in Orchestral Conducting at the Florida State University College of Music, where he concurrently completed the Specialized Study in Music Theory Pedagogy program.

In 2018, Dr. Dodson was selected to participate as a fellow at the Conductor’s Institute in South Carolina under the direction of Dr. Donald Portnoy. Dr. Dodson was a conducting participant in the College Orchestra Director's Association Conducting Masterclass with Bruce Hangen in Boston, Massachusetts in spring of 2019. Since the summer of 2021, Dr. Dodson has served on the orchestral conducting faculty at the Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp in Twin Lake, Michigan. He was a finalist for the American Prize in Collegiate Orchestral Conducting for the 2021 to 2022 academic year--additionally he was a finalist honorable mention for the American Prize in Professional Orchestral Conducting for the 2023 to 2024 academic year. In the fall of 2022, Dr. Dodson served as a guest conductor for the University Symphony Orchestra at the University of Kansas in Lawrence, Kansas. His conducting teachers include Dr. Alexander Jiménez (Florida State University), Michael J. Garasi (University of Central Florida), and Joseph Kreines. As a proponent of new music, Dr. Dodson has conducted works by Michael Gordon, Roger Zare, Jennifer Higdon, Roger Zare, Victoria Bond, James Primosch, Richard Maltz, Avner Dorman, Ash Stemke, Aaron Houston, Brian Junttila, and Eunseon Yu. In the fall of 2025, Dr.Dodson will conduct the world premiere of a new full orchestral work by renowned composer Kirt Mosier entitled LIFT OFF, which will take place at Central Michigan University with Houston-based Summer Creek High School and their conductor David Irish. Dr. Dodson has presented on rehearsal strategies and conducting topics at the Conn Selmer Institute in Indiana, the Michigan Music Conference, the Florida Music Educators Conference, and the Kansas Music Educators Conference. Prior to his career in higher education, he held secondary instrumental positions at Space Coast Junior/Senior High School and Matanzas High School in Central Florida.

At Central Michigan University, Dr. Dodson serves as Music Director of the Central Michigan University Symphony Orchestra. This flagship ensemble hosts top performing undergraduate and graduate music majors, in addition to other, non-music major students at CMU. A passionate educator, Dr. Dodson serves as co-director of the Michigan American String Teachers Association chapter at Central Michigan University, alongside Dr. Jamie Fiste, where they mentor future string music educators. He previously served on the faculty of Bethany College in Lindsborg, Kansas, where he grew the program from one to seventeen music majors over the course of four years. As the founding music director of the Chamber Orchestra of the Smoky Valley (COSV), he formed an orchestra of faculty members from the Kansas State University, the University of Oregon, Oklahoma City University, the University of Kansas, and also personnel from the Wichita Symphony Orchestra, the Topeka Symphony Orchestra, and the Kansas City Symphony Orchestra. As an active clinician, Dr. Dodson has conducted middle school and high school honor orchestras in Florida, Kansas, Michigan, Missouri, and Ohio, and also led clinics for numerous middle and high school bands and orchestras in Florida, Kansas, Michigan, Missouri, Nevada, and Texas. Notably, Dr. Dodson served as a guest conductor for the Detroit Symphony Youth Orchestra Honors String Day in the spring of 2025, is scheduled to conduct the Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp International Orchestra in summer of 2026, and will serve as the Florida 9-10 All State Concert Orchestra Conductor in the spring of 2027.