Dr. Cedric Adderley

Dr. Cedric Adderley serves as the fourth president of the South Carolina Governor’s School for the Arts and Humanities. With over twenty-five years of experience in the field of education, he has taught on all levels, has served in roles of increasing leadership from elementary through the collegiate level, and has an impressive record of innovative leadership and scholarship in the arts and education. He most recently served as Dean of the College at Capital University in Columbus, Ohio. Prior to that appointment, he served as the Associate Vice President for Academic Affairs at Claflin University in Orangeburg, South Carolina. His resume includes additional faculty and administrative appointments at Benedict College and North Carolina A&T State University. He began his career as a music educator in the South Carolina Public Schools, teaching both instrumental and choral music.

Dr. Adderley has an extensive background in accreditation, curriculum and instruction, faculty development, and general education reform. He has served as an accreditation evaluator for the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS), the Higher Learning Commission of the North Central Association (HLC), and the National Association of Schools of Music (NASM). Throughout his career, he has restructured music programs and academic units with cutting-edge strategies that have increased enrollment, improved learning outcomes, and brought them back to positions of stability while, at the same time, aggressively pursuing new degree programs and partnerships.

An accomplished composer and music educator, Dr. Adderley enjoys a multifaceted career and maintains an active schedule of artistic engagements throughout the United States and abroad. He has earned numerous accolades, including winning the Detroit Symphony Orchestra’s annual composer search for his Symphony no.1 and being selected as Composer of the Year by the South Carolina Music Teachers Association for his Suite for Young Voices. His compositions for various musical media include works in virtually every idiom and include a considerable amount of commissioned works. His original music is published by Grand Mesa and TRN Music Publishers.

Ensembles throughout the United States and abroad have performed the music of Cedric Adderley, including the South Carolina Philharmonic, the Augusta Symphony, the Rutgers Philharmonia, the University of Miami Wind Ensemble, the Moravian Philharmonic, and the Bulgarian National Radio Symphony. As a trumpeter and vocalist, he has performed with many legendary recording artists including Ray Charles, Olivia Newton-John, and Louie Bellson. He has also toured the southeastern United States with several variety bands.

A native of Columbia, South Carolina, Dr. Adderley earned a Bachelor’s degree in music education from East Carolina University and both the Master of Music and Doctor of Musical Arts in composition from the University of South Carolina.