Todd Queen

Dr. M. Todd Queen serves as Dean of the College of Music at Florida State University, an appointment he has held since January 2021. Queen previously served as Dean and Penniman Family Professor of Music at the LSU College of Music & Dramatic Arts (CMDA), a position he held from 2014 – 2021.

In his first year at FSU, Queen led representative faculty, staff, students, and community members in a strategic visioning exercise that resulted in an identification of the College’s core values and strategic focus areas for the future. As a result of the new Strategic Vision, the College announced the establishment of the Ruth and Les Akers Endowed Chair in Community Music and the faculty are developing curriculum for a new BA in Community Music. Queen has also overseen several major renovation projects in the College, including the Florence Ashby and Laird Anderson Mezzanine, a new Office of Student Success, renovations to the 4th floor practice rooms in Kuersteiner Music Building, new seating in Opperman Music Hall, and the Dorothy Flory Holroyd Rehearsal Room.

Queen is recognized as a national thought leader on modernizing curriculum to meet the needs of the 21st century artist, having given multiple invited presentations at NASM and CMS over the last decade. Those national conversations resulted in curricular reform both at LSU and at Colorado State University, where he served as voice professor and Director of Opera since 2001 and Chair of the Department of Music, Theatre, and Dance from 2009-2014. In 2012, Queen was the catalyst for the formation of the LEAP (Leadership, Entrepreneurship, Arts Advocacy and the Public) Institute for the Arts at Colorado State, an interdisciplinary academic unit that houses both an undergraduate minor and graduate program in Arts Leadership and Administration.

A passionate fundraiser, Queen works closely with donors who believe in investing in the arts to help students and faculty achieve their maximum potential. At LSU, Queen developed and led the CMDA in a comprehensive fundraising campaign, which included a $4M opera naming gift in 2018, the largest gift in the college’s history. Additional significant gifts at LSU included two new endowed chairs, the lead gift for a recital hall renovation, and multiple new endowed scholarships. During his time at CSU, Queen established ten new endowed scholarships for the department and endowed the Charles and Reta Ralph Opera Center at CSU. Queen works regularly with Academic Impressions, a professional development firm for higher education, where he developed an interactive video curriculum “Fundraising for Department Chairs” and has participated in webinars for deans looking to further develop fundraising skills.

Queen earned the DMA and MM degrees from the Eastman School of Music after completing his undergraduate degree at Brigham Young University. Queen served as Artistic Director of Opera Fort Collins from 2004-2011. Under his leadership, the company tripled the number of season productions, significantly increased fundraising efforts, and brought in high-level artists from around the world to sing in Fort Collins. Queen is also a strong advocate for international study and has traveled to Asia on multiple occasions to forge a partnership with East China Normal University in Shanghai, where he was named Visiting Professor. He has spent over a dozen summers in Italy, working with Opera Orvieto and Operafestival di Roma, where he served as Executive Director.

Throughout his professional career, Queen has produced and directed more than 60 opera and musical theatre productions. His performing career included faculty and guest recitals, master classes, and solo engagements with international and regional opera companies, orchestras, choruses, and concert series.