Dr. Deanna Carpenter

Instructor, High Brass

Office: Old Main 119
Email: deanna.carpenter@minotstateu.edu
Phone Number: (701) 858-4493

Dr. Deanna Carpenter is the High Brass Instructor at Minot State University.  A native of Minot, North Dakota, Carpenter completed the Doctor of Music in Brass Pedagogy in 2015 at the renowned Jacobs School of Music at Indiana University. Her principal applied horn teacher during her doctoral studies was Jeff Nelsen, known to many for his lengthy tenure touring and recording with Canadian Brass.  Carpenter studied trumpet with Joey Tartell, trombone with Dee Stewart, and tuba with Dan Perantoni. Carpenter initially began her Bloomington graduate studies working with Michael Hatfield, who had joined IU’s music faculty in 1984 to replace his mentor, the legendary Philip Farkas. Carpenter completed the MM in horn performance in 2005. While at the Jacobs School, she also studied with internationally acclaimed virtuosi Michael Hoeltzel, Eric Terwilliger, Eli Epstein, and natural horn specialist Richard Seraphinoff.

Carpenter pursued her BM in horn performance at the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, under the tutelage of Charles Kavalovski, who was principal horn in Boston for 25 years, and with Herbert Winslow, currently co-principal with the Minnesota Orchestra. She credits both of the aforementioned for developing the foundations for her sense of musical style and technique. 

Dr. Carpenter performed in the Minnesota Orchestra’s first side-by-side concert in the spring of 2000 under the baton of Maestro Eiji Oue.  She was a regular substitute hornist with multiple orchestras in Minnesota and Indiana. She has participated in numerous horn workshops and festivals, most notably the Kendall Betts Horn Camp, Fearless Audition Training with Jeff Nelsen, and a Baroque Trumpet making workshop with Robert Barclay and Richard Seraphinoff. 

Carpenter is principal horn for the Minot Symphony Orchestra, and is also heard with numerous other ensembles in Minot, including the Minot State University Concert Choir, the Minot Chamber Chorale, and the Brass Band of Minot.