Dennis Granlie
500 32nd Ave. NE
Great Falls, MT 59404
406-761-0420
dwgranlie@aol.com
A Glendive, Montana native, Dennis Granlie retired in June of 2005 from his position as Music Supervisor for the Great Falls Public Schools after a career that will have lasting impact on music education in Montana.
During his twenty-five years in the classroom, his bands earned a reputation for excellence. He taught in four Montana high schools (Lavina, Roundup, Glendive, and Great Falls Russell) ranging in enrollment from 36 to over 2,000. He has taught general music, choir, and band, and served as a church choir director. As a band director, his bands consistently earned the highest ratings at festivals and his symphonic bands won numerous awards at the state and regional level. Granlie served the last eleven years of his career as a music administrator.
He holds music education degrees from Dawson Community College, Eastern Montana College and VanderCook College of Music in Chicago, and an administrative endorsement from the University of Montana.
Mr. Granlie is a past-president of Montana Bandmasters Association, Montana Music Educators Association, and the Northwest Division of MENC, the National Association for Music Education. As a division president, he sat on MENC’s National Executive Board and was a participant in the 1993 National Symposium for Arts Standards helping to develop music education standards now in place under Federal law. Granlie served on the Montana High School Association Music Committee for nine years, four as chair and he continued to chair the National Federation Music Advisory Committee for two years after he retired. During his tenure with the MHSA, Granlie was instrumental in developing the rubric adjudication forms which are in use today in MHSA festivals, and converting them to electronic format.
Noted for his leadership ability, Mr. Granlie has organized such events as the 1997 All-Northwest Festival in Bellevue, WA involving over 900 students from six states. As NW MENC President, Granlie organized and managed the 1999 Division Conference in Portland, Oregon. In 1989 he organized and led the Montana Statehood Centennial Band’s tour in Europe. He has also organized and hosted Montana All-State Festivals and MMEA conferences, chaired MHSA District Festivals for 15 years and organized countless smaller invitational festivals or events. Throughout his career, he has been a valued member and leader of many other arts organizations in the community, state and the Northwest.
Mr. Granlie is one of three co-authors of MENC’s “Teacher Success Kit,” and has had articles published in regional and national professional journals. His book, “Teaching and Managing Performing Ensembles,” was published in 2009, and is currently in use by several universities in their methods classes.
Dennis has received numerous awards including both the Northwest MENC Distinguished Service Award and MMEA Distinguished Service Award in 2005. MENC also named Granlie a Lowell Mason Fellow at a ceremony in Washington D.C. in March of 2005. In June of 2006, the National Federation of State High School Associations presented Mr. Granlie with their National Citation Award for significant and/or long-term contributions to high school music activities.
Mr. Granlie is co-director of the Winds of Montana adult band, and frequently serves as a clinician, adjudicator, and/or guest conductor at various conferences and festivals throughout the western United States. He works as a music consultant and serves as a mentor for the Montana Music Educators Association and is the editor of Cadenza, the official journal of the MMEA. He and his wife Marianne continue to live in Great Falls and have three grown children and six grandchildren.
