Composers
Cedric Dent
1967 -About
Cedric Dent (b. 1967), a native of Detroit, Michigan, was a baritone vocalist, music arranger, and co-producer of the 10-time GRAMMY Award-winning vocal group, TAKE 6. Dent holds degrees from the University of Michigan (B.M., vocal music education, 1985), the University of Alabama (M.M., music theory/arranging, 1987) and the University of Maryland (Ph.D., music theory, 1997). After 25 years, Dent retired from full-time performing and has been an emeritus member of the group since 2011. Dent is also a 2-time Grammy-nominated music arranger and contributed several arrangements for the Grammy-award winning recording Handel’s Messiah A Soulful Celebration (1992). In 2014, Dent rejoined TAKE 6 for their induction into the Gospel Music Hall of Fame in Nashville, TN. Since 2004, Dent has also been a professor in the School of Music at Middle Tennessee State University (Murfreesboro, TN) where he directs the MTSU Singers (a vocal jazz ensemble), teaches a course he developed on the history of black gospel music, as well as undergraduate and graduate courses in music theory. He continues to compose and arrange for various live and recording projects. Most recently, the Nashville Symphony Orchestra commissioned a work from Dent for orchestra and chorus to be premiered in 2016. As an alumnus of the University of Michigan, Dent was selected to receive the 2016 Hall of Fame Award from the School of Music, Theatre & Dance Alumni Society. He lives in Mt. Juliet, TN with his wife, Beverly, and son, Cedric, Jr.
Related Information
http://www.mtsu.edu/music/faculty.php?faculty=cdent