The auditorium of the Kinzer Performing Arts Center will be renamed the “Dineo Heilmann Auditorium” at a dedication ceremony Wednesday, April 23 at Northern Oklahoma College Tonkawa.
The dedication is scheduled for 12:30 p.m.
Heilmann was an instructor at NOC from 1986-2017, serving as the NOC Fine Arts Division Chair from 1990-2017.
NOC President Diana Morris Watkins said Heilmann is very deserving of the honor.
“Countless students have been impacted by Dineo Heilmann’s work at Northern Oklahoma College, and as someone who was once a trombone player in the NOC Junior High Honor Band, I count myself among them,” she said. “When I later became his colleague, I had the opportunity to witness the many ways his leadership, dedication, and insight contributed to the continued success of the Roustabouts and other students in the Fine Arts Division.
He received his Associate degree from Northern Oklahoma College, his Bachelor of Music Education from Oklahoma State University where he was named Outstanding Music Student his senior year. He then received a fellowship to complete his Master of Music Education degree at Wichita State University.
He was named 1991’s Outstanding Young Bandmaster for the state of Oklahoma by Phi Beta Mu. He has had the honor of working with famed conductor Eugene Corporon, renowned composer Jack Stamp and has performed in a master class for Richard Stoltzman.
Heilmann has been honored twice by the Northern Oklahoma College board of Regents, the first with a “Resolution” of outstanding contribution to music culture and the second he was honored along with his father with a “Resolution” for the 50th anniversary of the Roustabouts for “50 years of inspiring performances”.
In 2014, the city of Tonkawa named him “Citizen of the Year.” In 2015 Tonkawa High School named Mr. Heilmann as “Friends of Education” for raising money to purchase a Steinway grand piano for their Events Center.
He appeared annually with the Northern Gala Orchestra since its inception in 1996, under the baton of Conductor Gerald Steichen, performing traditional clarinet literature. Dineo has been so lucky as to have performed with New York Philharmonic Violist Dorian Rence and such soprano artists as Loraine Ernst, Julie McCoy, and Janet Gray.
In 2000 he participated in the Higher Education Leadership Academy.
He has served as the representative for Junior/Community Colleges for the Oklahoma Association of Schools of Music. He has been a member of the Music Educators National Conference, Oklahoma Music Educators Association, and Phi Beta Mu.
Heilmann, Class of Northern Oklahoma College 1982, was recently inducted into the NOC Distinguished Alumni.
