Composer with a cause
Alumnus Dylan Fixmer鈥檚 variegated and prolific career aims to inspire empathy and advance community engagement. 鈥淚 want music to have a purpose,鈥� he says. With an undergrad diploma from CU Boulder in hand, he spent a decade teaching in small Colorado towns such as Hotchkiss and Rifle, also serving as a counselor at the YMCA of the Rockies. Along the way, he earned a master鈥檚 in music education from Indiana University. But life as a composer beckoned. His Violin Concerto was premiered by the Greeley Philharmonic in September 2022鈥攊n partnership with the Greeley Family House and other homelessness assistance organizations to increase support for the unhoused. His wife鈥攁lumna Sarah Off, pictured with Fixmer above鈥攑erformed the premiere on an instrument once owned by Terri Sternberg, an accomplished musician who had fallen on hard times, became homeless and died in 2013. Learning her story propelled Fixmer to create a heartfelt concerto that generated critical raves, a radio broadcast on听and eventually helped bring attention to the cause of homelessness as far away as London and Paris.听MORE
