Timothy De Prey

Timothy De Prey has been a piano instructor at MacPhail Center for Music since 1997, where he has taught all levels from beginner to advanced. Throughout his teaching career, his students have won many competitions, including the Junior Honors Competition, the Honors Competition, the Concerto and Aria Competition, and multiple scholarships. In 2025, one of Timothy’s graduating seniors was the first student to receive a new music scholarship at Gustavus Adolphus University, which will award him $25,000 per year. 

Timothy is an active performer in the Twin Cities and has been the principal accompanist for the groundbreaking Twin Cities Gay Men’s Chorus since 1991. Timothy has performed in seven MacPhail Spotlight Series performances, including By George—the music of George Gershwin, Flirting with Sondheim, and, most recently, to a sold-out audience, It Takes Two—the greatest duets of Broadway. Minneapolis Mayor Betsy Hodges proclaimed December 5, 2015, Timothy De Prey Day in the City of Minneapolis to honor his work with MacPhail Center for Music and the Twin Cities Gay Men’s Chorus. Timothy has a Bachelor of Arts degree in music therapy from the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire and a Master of Music degree in piano performance from the University of Minnesota.

In 2025, Timothy received the James E. Erickson Professional Development Grant, administered through MacPhail Center for Music. This grant supported Timothy's writing of original solo piano compositions for his piano students to serve as individualized pedagogical experiences. One of these compositions, Coming Home, is now published at Alfred Music.