Have you met Tom Dust, professor of Secondary Music Education in the Faculty of Education? Spend a few minutes getting to know him better.
What is your first U of A memory?
Coming to campus with my dad when I was 13 years old. He showed me the room in St. Joe’s that he lived in during the 1940s when he was a student in Dentistry.
What’s something your coworkers don’t know about you?
I have a subscription to The Cowboy Channel … It reminds me of all the years I played in the band for the Canadian Finals Rodeo, here in Edmonton.
What’s your favourite distraction?
I am learning about automobile restoration by reviving a 1953 Dodge Coronet.
If you were enrolling in one course, program or degree right now, what would it be?
Either music composition and arranging or auto mechanics.
What’s a weird pet peeve you have?
When people stop in doorways or at the bottom of a staircase or escalator.
You can invite anyone — alive or dead, real or fictional — to dinner. Who would it be?
My Dad. He’s been gone for 11 years and I miss him.
If you could see any live performance tomorrow, what would it be?
Impossible now, but it would be Frank Sinatra backed up by the Harry James big band.
What advice would you give your 18-year-old self?
Get on a plane and go to Vegas to hear live performances of Frank and Harry.
What’s one thing you can’t live without?
My family. I mostly work alone, although I rely on my family as the primary source of feedback, and often a significant amount of physical effort, for honing new ideas and seeing them through to reality.
What three words describe your U of A experience?
Student, Professor, Opportunity
About Tom
Dr. Thomas Dust holds the position of professor of Secondary Music Education in the Faculty of Education in the College of Social Sciences + Humanities. He teaches undergraduate and graduate Curriculum and Instruction courses in secondary music, is the founder and director of the University of Alberta Marching Band and conducts the University of Alberta Convocation Band. Dr. Dust holds undergraduate degrees in Science and Music Education from the University of Alberta and has earned the degrees of Master of Music (Jazz Studies) and Doctor of Music Education from Indiana University Jacobs School of Music (Bloomington). While attending Indiana University he held the position of Associate Instructor in the Jazz Department, was the director of Jazz Band III and the Indiana University/Purdue University Indianapolis Campus Jazz Ensemble.