Carmel Dean

2026 Gala Honoree

Carmel Dean is a Grammy-nominated musician from Perth, Australia, now based in New York, whose work spans composing, musical direction, and arranging across theatre, television, and large-scale international events. As a composer, her projects include the New York production of Renascence, Maiden Voyage in London, and Well-Behaved Women, which has been presented in multiple theatres around the globe, including Belvoir St in Sydney and the upcoming Australian Musical Theatre Festival in Tasmania in May.

In addition to her composing work, Dean has built an extensive career as a musical director and arranger on Broadway and in the West End, contributing to productions such as The Notebook, Clueless, Funny Girl, If/Then, Hands on a Hardbody, American Idiot, and The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee. She will be the Music Supervisor and Arranger for Sydney Theatre Company’s upcoming production of Whispering Jack – the John Farnham musical. Dean previously worked at Sydney Theatre Company as the musical director for Fun Home, and was a member of the music department for the Opening and Closing Ceremonies of the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games. 

Dean holds an MFA in Musical Theatre Writing from New York University, a Bachelor of Music from WAAPA, and is an alumna of the BMI Lehman Engel Musical Theatre Workshop. Her work has been recognized with numerous honors, including a Grammy Award nomination, a Fulbright Scholarship, a Sydney Theatre Award, an Off-Broadway Alliance Award, and the Billie Burke Ziegfeld Award for Composition.