Musician.
Marine. Educator.
Dr. Onsby C. Rose is the Director of Instrumental Activities and Professor of Music at Dordt University, where he conducts the Wind Symphony, Campus-Community Band and directs the Defender Band, Dordt's first athletic pep-band, and oversees all six instrumental ensembles and the Instrumental Music Education program. He also serves as Principal Conductor of the Northwest Iowa Symphony Orchestra.
A former U.S. Marine Corps musician with eleven years of service, Dr. Rose performed and conducted with bands in Albany, New Orleans, and Norfolk, and served two years as a baritone bugler with "The Commandant's Own" U.S. Marine Drum and Bugle Corps in Washington, D.C. He holds the title of United States Marine closest to his heart.
Dr. Rose earned his B.M. from East Tennessee State University, his M.M. in Conducting from Appalachian State University, and his D.M.A. in Conducting from The Ohio State University, where he studied with Dr. Russel C. Mikkelson. He studied composition with the late Dr. David Maslanka.
His compositions have been performed by premier military bands in Washington D.C., college and high school bands across the United States, and internationally in Australia, Japan, Guam, and Germany. He is currently commissioned by "The President's Own" U.S. Marine Band to compose his second symphony.
