JENNA SCHUETTE | staff writer

Compassionate is one of the fi rst words many use to describe associate professor of music Dennis Royse. Royse’s dissertation work for his Doctorate of Musicology is just one display of his compassionate nature.

“Dennis is so compassionate,”

director of bands and music professor Donavon Gray said. “He cares so much for people, people of all kinds.” Over the course of 10 years, Royse spent months studying the Khasi people of India, a people group that had never been studied before.

While he was there, Royse was able to write down their music, which had previously only been passed down orally. “His work in India demonstrates his love for other cultures and music,” Gray said In 1997, Royse published Music and the Nongkrem: the Articulation of Meaning in a Khasi Religious Festival in Meghalaya, India.

The inspiration for his study came from Dorothy, his wife of 26 years. Dorothy grew up in Meghalaya, India, a northeastern state in India. Meghalaya, unlike most of India, is a Christian state, comprised of Catholics and Presbyterians who had been converted at the time of British colonization. The village has an annual sacred religious music festival called the Nongkrem Festival, which celebrates the lineage of their king. Because Dorothy is part of that lineage, her royalty allowed Royse access to the sacred Nongkrem Festival, where he worked to transcribe the Khasi music onto paper.

Before Royse’s work, there was no physical representation of the festival. All the music had been memorized and passed down. “I still get letters from people from my village thanking us for our work there,” Dorothy said. “They are so grateful that someone has preserved their music.” Royse has taken a vested interest in the Khasi people, not just because his wife and three children share their heritage with this group.

“It’s a paradox that I haven’t quite fi gured out. In such poor countries you’d think people would be miserable, but there seems to be vitality,” Royse said. “They have so little so what they have matters so much. Everything is seen as a blessing.”

He recalls being warmly welcomed by the village during his fi rst visit, before he married his wife. “We were walking down the road during my fi rst visit with the tribe I’d be studying and a man who owned a tea shop called us from the street into his tea shop,” Royse said. “I felt so welcomed. I was amazed by how relational they were.” Since his fi rst few visits, Royse has tried to bring his family to India as often as possible.

“I’m thankful to God because other Indian friends of mine are married to Americans that don’t like to go to India because they don’t want to see the poverty,” Dorothy Royse said. “I’m thankful that Dennis is always wanting to go to India. In fact he’s always the one pushing to go, instead of me.” His interest in music, however, goes much further back. Dennis Royse was captivated by music at an early age. “The fi rst time I played a trumpet at age 8, I knew music would be a huge part of my life,” Royse said. After growing up in the small farming town of Milton Freewater, Ore, Royse decided after high school to head for Pasadena in hopes of pursuing rock music.

Royse did studio work for several rock bands throughout the ‘70s while attending school at Pasadena College. He later taught music at East Los Angeles High School. At the end of 1985, Royse joined APU’s music department. Since coming to APU Royse has taught multiple music classes and directed the men’s chorale, jazz ensemble and symphony orchestra. Royse is currently the chair of the music graduate program and teaches in the undergraduate programs. Royse’s colleague and best friend, Donovan Gray, comments on his compassion in the classroom. “He is thoroughly dedicated to his students,” Gray said. “He has them over for dinner and is willing to work with students behind the scenes to help them improve.” His wife Dorothy agrees that her husband’s love for people is seen in the way he treats his students and family.

“He comes home and shares stories about his students and what they’re struggling with,” Dorothy said. “I know he wants them to succeed and will do anything to help.” As a faculty member for the last

22 years and the father of an APU alum, Royse has made the university his home.

“I’ll be here until I retire,” Royse said. “I love the family environment.” Royse’s time at APU has allowed him to pursue his joint love for music and cultures. He currently teaches in the areas of music theory, music history, jazz improvisation, music education, and graduate research. He has also led teams with the music department to Armenia. “He’s a loving person with a heart for all people,” Gray said. “You can see it in all he does.”