Alfred W. Dentino, an alumnus of Concord-Carlisle Regional High School in Concord, Massachusetts, received his Bachelor of Music Education Degree from The Ohio State University in 1976. While at Ohio State, he was principal clarinetist and President of The Ohio State University Concert Band under the direction of Donald
E. McGinnis. He earned his Master’s Degree in Fine Arts from Harvard University in 1991 where he won the Crite Prize for his thesis research into portrayals of musical instruments in ancient Greek art.
Mr. Dentino has taught in the Columbus, Ohio Public Schools, Wachusett Regional School District in Holden, Massachusetts, and the Concord Public Schools and the Concord-Carlisle Regional School District in Concord, Massachusetts. From 1992 until he retired from public school education in 2012, he served as Director of Bands at Concord-Carlisle Regional High School where his responsibilities included directing the Repertory and Concert Bands, football Pep Band, Orchestra, and Jazz Bands, as well as conducting the Pit Orchestra for the school’s annual musical.
Under his direction, the CCHS Concert Band earned nineteen gold medals at the Massachusetts Instrumental and Choral Conductors Association (MICCA) State Concert Festival. The CCHS Concert Band undertook extremely successful tours of Hokkaido, Japan in 1998, 2004, 2007 and 2010; and the CCHS Jazz Band visited Beijing, China in 2000. The CCHS Concert Band performed at some of the finest concert venues in the world including Mechanics Hall in Worcester, Massachusetts, Ozawa Hall at Tanglewood, Kitara Hall in Sapporo, Japan, and Symphony Hall in Boston. The joint Sapporo Shiroishi Symphonic Wind Ensemble and
Concord-Carlisle Concert Band concerts at Boston’s Symphony Hall in 2003 and 2008 were incredible experiences for performers and audience members alike.
In “retirement”, Mr. Dentino continues to teach. He maintains an active private lesson studio, is Assistant Director of the Lexington Bicentennial Band, and serves the New England Conservatory Preparatory Division as conductor of the Massachusetts Youth Wind Ensemble Concert Band. Mr. Dentino continues to guest lecture and adjudicate band festivals across the country. He has served MICCA as President, is the recipient of the MICCA Hall of Fame Award in 2001, and continues to serve MICCA as a clarinet and ensemble adjudicator and clinician.
Mr. Dentino also maintains an active relationship with schools and school bands in Japan, particularly with Massachusetts’ Sister State, the island prefecture of Hokkaido. He makes nearly annual visits to Japan and undertook his fifteenth visit there as a chaperone and consultant with the Concord-Carlisle Concert Band on their return visit to Hokkaido in April of 2019.
Mr. Dentino and his wife, Chris, live in Sterling, Massachusetts.