Dr. Tim Oliver is the Director of Bands and Professor of Music at the University of Mississippi. Dr. Oliver conducts the Wind Ensemble, teaches courses in graduate and undergraduate conducting and music education, and administers The Ole Miss Band Program alongside his colleagues.
Research Interests
Dr. Oliver is also an active researcher with projects on conducting pedagogy, wind band repertoire, and aesthetic distance. He has been invited to present at numerous professional venues, including the Midwest Clinic, National and Divisional CBDNA Conferences, and multiple NAfME and state music education association proceedings. Publications featuring his work include the Journal of Band Research, NBA Journal, WASBE Newsletter, The Instrumentalist, and several state music education journals.
Biography
Dr. Tim Oliver is the new Director of Bands and Professor of Music at the University of Mississippi. A strong proponent of promoting connections among performance, education, and community, Dr. Oliver will conduct the Wind Ensemble, teach courses in graduate and undergraduate conducting and music education, and administer the Ole Miss Band Program alongside his colleagues.
A native of Centralia, MO, he earned his bachelor’s and two master’s degrees from Truman State University and his doctoral degree from Florida State University. Before his appointment in Oxford, Dr. Oliver was the Director of Bands and Coordinator of Wind and Percussion Studies at Arkansas State University for 16 years. Previously, he served as a faculty member at Temple University and the University of Kansas, as well as a junior and senior high school band director in Missouri and Florida.
As an active guest conductor, performance clinician, and adjudicator, ensembles led by Dr. Oliver have been recognized locally, regionally, and nationally for their balanced approach in performing established and contemporary repertoire. During the last 15 years, he has premiered or helped commission, either individually or as a consortium member, over 50 new works for winds. His ensembles accepted invitations through juried selections to perform at the 2010, 2014, and 2020 Southwestern CBDNA Conferences. Composers, including David Maslanka, John Mackey, Andrea Reinkemeyer, and Michael Markowski, have praised Dr. Oliver’s interpretation of their compositions.
He is also an active researcher with projects on conducting pedagogy, wind band repertoire, and aesthetic distance. He has been invited to present at numerous professional venues, including the Midwest Clinic, National and Divisional CBDNA Conferences, and multiple NAfME and state music education association proceedings. Publications featuring his work include the Journal of Band Research, NBA Journal, WASBE Newsletter, The Instrumentalist, and several state music education journals.
Dr. Oliver also believes strongly in servant leadership. In addition to regular university service and collaborations with music educators, he was the Vice-President then President-elect of the CBDNA Southwestern Division and a state chair for the National Band Association. He is also very proud of the students and colleagues he mentored during his more than 20 years of service as a college professor, as noted in 2013 when he received a university award as the Outstanding Faculty Advisor of the Year for his work mentoring graduate and undergraduate students.
Vigorously cheering the Kansas City Chiefs for over 30 years, completing home improvement projects, watching various sci-fi television shows and movies, and his latest hobby, disc golf, are activities he enjoys outside of music. He also loves spending family time with his wife of nearly 26 years, Rebecca, and his now adult children, Benjamin and Gwendolyn. He is very excited, humbled, and honored to be selected to lead the next chapter in the storied history of the Ole Miss Band Program.
Publications
Using Wind Band Literature Lists as a Resource for Selecting Music for Our Ensembles.
Courses Taught
- MUS 126 Wind Ensemble
- MUS 226 Fundamentals of Conducting
- MUS 336 Instrumental Conducting
- MUS 426 Wind Band Literature
- MUS 567
- MUS 134
- MUS 234
- MUS 334
- MUS 434
- MUS 534
- MUS 315
- MUS 316
- MUS 607
Education
B.A. Music Education, Truman State University (1993)
MM Conducting, Truman State University (1995)
Ph.D. Music Education, Florida State University (2000)