Born and educated in Wellington, Dean joined the NZSO organisation as a trainee violinist with the Schola Musica in 1975, and successfully auditioned at the end of 1978 for the ‘big’ orchestra. As a trainee, he studied with the then NZSO Sub-Principal Second Violin, Franco Domaneschi, having previously studied locally with Bill Davies, Ken Magill and Zillah Castle. In 1980 he was appointed a National Artist to the Radio NZ Concert Programme, making many recordings for broadcast with pianists, Rae de Lisle, David Guerin, Katherine Austin and Margaret Nielsen. In 1982, son number one, Nicholas, was born.
In 1987, Dean was invited to be a founding member of the NZ Chamber Orchestra. In 1993 he met his wife, Rosemary Brown (former NZSO Sales and Client Services Manager), and in 1998, sons number two and three, identical twin boys, Alex and Zack, were born. Dean and Rosemary still manage to enjoy food, wine, friends and rugby.
Rex Benson