Dan Pinkston, D.M.A. – Asbury University
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Professor of Worship Arts

Department: Christian Studies & Philosophy

Office: Reasoner 222

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Biographical Information

Worship leader, educator and composer, Dan Pinkston is active in many diverse fields of music—he composes choral and orchestral music, teaches worship arts at Asbury University, is an active church musician, and also plays rock, jazz and blues guitar. His many composition awards include the 2000 ACDA composition contest and a number of prominent commissions. His primary objective as a composer is to fuse and craft his many musical influences into works that are accessible to the average listener as well as stimulating to the discerning musician.

Dr. Pinkston’s musical education began as a child in Africa (Cote D’Ivoire), where a diversity of cultural and musical expressions profoundly impacted his love for the broad range of human expression in music. Following musical study in Arkansas and Texas, including a doctorate in musical composition, Pinkston taught at Simpson University (Redding, CA) for 19 years.

Pinkston came to Asbury in 2020 to serve as professor of worship arts. Recent compositions include 2 commissioned symphonies and 2 commissioned concertos, the most recent published by Alea Music Publications (2020).

Pinkston’s achievements include non-musical exploits as well, in particular the completion of an Ironman distance triathlon in the summer of 2010, numerous marathons and over 30 long distance urban hikes (@pinkstonurbanhiker on Instagram).

Education

  • Doctor of Music Arts (Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary)
  • Master of Music (Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary)
  • Bachelor of Music (Ouachita Baptist University)

Publications, Awards, Residencies & Performances

Awards

  • Francis Owen Distinguished Faculty Scholar Award, Simpson University, (2016, 2017, 2018)
  • Winner of the Brookline Parish Composition Contest, Boston, MA (2016)
  • Winner of the American Choral Directors Association Composition Contest (2000)
  • Winner of the Delta Omicron Foundation Composition Contest (2000)
  • ASCAP Plus Awards (2001-14; 2017)
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Residencies

  • Composer-in-Residence, Atelier Ausmarke, Ausmarke, Norway (2021)
  • Composer-in-Residence, Visby Center for Music, Gotland, Sweden (2018)
  • Composer-in-Residence, Whiskeytown National Park, (2018)

Conference Presentations

  • Wisdom Literature and Ecclesiastical Visions in U2’s Pop, Paper presented at the International U2 Conference, Queens University, Northern Ireland (2018)
  • Where Punk, Progressive Rock, and Shred Collide: A Structural Analysis of Metallica’s Ride the Lightning, paper presented at the College Music Society National Conference, San Antonio, TX (2017)
  • Where Punk, Progressive Rock, and Shred Collide: A Structural Analysis of Metallica’s Ride the Lightning. Paper presented at the Modern Heavy Metal Conference, Helsinki, Finland, June (2017)
  • U2 and Igor Stravinsky: Textures, Timbres and the Devil. Paper presented at U2: The Hype and the Feedback Conference, Raleigh, NC (2009)
  • Systematic and Mystical Theology in James Macmillan’s Veni, Veni Emmanuel. Paper presented at the National Faculty Leadership Conference, Alexandria, VA (2006)
  • Machaut or Metallica?: Teaching Modal Theory to a Post-Rock ‘n’ Roll Generation. Paper presented at the College Music Society West Coast Convention, San Francisco, CA (2005)

Selected Commissioned Performances

  • Concerto for Bass Clarinet and Orchestra, Premiered by the Tilikum Chamber Orchestra, Portland, OR (2020)
  • Concerto for Violin and Orchestra, Premiered by the North State Symphony, Chico, CA (2017)
  • Dark Nebula, (electronics, piano, trumpet) Premiered by the Splice Ensemble at the Electronic Music Midwest Conference, Kansas City, MO (2017)
  • Collisions XIII, (flute, double bass, piano, electric guitar, violin) Premiered by the Now Ensemble at the Tutti Music Festival, Granville, OH (2017)
  • Symphony No. 2, Premiered by the Shasta Symphony Orchestra, Redding, CA (2012)
  • Symphony No. 2, multiple performances by the Juneau Symphony Orchestra, Juneau, AK (2014)
  • Symphony No. 1, Premiered by the North State Symphony Orchestra, Chico, CA (2010)

Publications

  • U2 and Igor Stravinsky: Textures, Timbres and the Devil. Published in the Christian Scholar’s Review (2012)
  • When Jesus Wept, SATB/Piano. Alliance Music Publishers (2016)
  • Nunc Dimittis, SATB/Piano. Lawson Gould Product Line (Warner Bros. Publications) (2000)
  • Magnificat, SATB/Piano. Alliance Music Publishers (2014)

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