Rate My Professor Gerardo Dirie

Gerardo Dirie is a composer, conductor, performer, and educator serving as Senior Lecturer and Head of Composition at the Queensland Conservatorium, Griffith University. Born in Córdoba, Argentina, he completed composition studies at the Universidad Nacional de Córdoba with Atilio Argüello, Oscar Bazán, and César Franchisena. He held an International Encounters in Contemporary Music Grant for contemporary choral music conducting techniques in Buenos Aires and a Fondo Nacional de las Artes Grant for studies in music and mathematics. In 1987, he relocated to the United States on a Fulbright Fellowship and Monica Mourier Archibald Grant to pursue postgraduate studies at Indiana University's Jacobs School of Music, where he earned a Master of Music and Doctor of Music in Composition under the guidance of John Eaton and Eugene O'Brien.

Dirie's career encompasses diverse roles across institutions. He co-founded the Collegium Centro de Educación e Investigaciones Musicales in Córdoba in 1982, teaching composition and music theory while directing its main choral ensemble until 1987. At Indiana University, he served as Associate Instructor of Composition from 1989 to 1992, faculty member in Music in General Studies from 1997 to 2003, Assistant Director of the Latin American Music Center—coordinating Inter American Composition Festivals and co-editing Scores and Recordings—and Associate Artist for the Indiana Repertory Theatre from 1992 to 1996, creating music and sound designs for productions including Yerma, The Cherry Orchard, and A Thousand Cranes. Since 2003 at Griffith University, he led Music Theory and Music Studies until 2016, then became Head of Composition, implementing innovative programs. His collaborative compositions involve musicians worldwide and have premiered in the United States, Latin America, Europe, Asia, Australia, and New Zealand. Notable works include Tu casa o este océano, winner of Argentina's National Tribune of Electroacoustic Music Prize in 1994 and selected for international tribunes in Paris and Finland; Canto de Amores Entre Ausencias, receiving an Honorary Mention in the 1993 NISSIM ASCAP International Composition Competition; and Puerto de Cántaros, Two Impromptus for two pianos, and El baile del quinto día, honored with multiple ASCAP Standard Awards. His academic interests center on music composition and electroacoustic music.