Deak's compositions have been performed at music festivals worldwide and by orchestras including the New York Philharmonic, National Symphony Orchestra, Minnesota Orchestra, Cincinnati Symphony, Seattle Symphony, New Jersey Symphony Orchestra, Atlanta Symphony, Colorado Symphony Orchestra, Rochester Philharmonic and major chamber groups around the country. His Concerto for Double Bass and Orchestra (Jack and the Beanstalk) was nominated for the 1990 Pulitzer Prize by the National Symphony. His compositions have been recorded by Centaur, CRI, Innova, and Cabrillo records.[2]
Deak founded The Very Young Composers Program in one school in Denver, and has rapidly expanded it to an international program found in multiple public schools in New York City, seven cities across the US, and seven foreign countries throughout the world, as well as developing a follow-up curriculum in New York City called The Bridge.
He has performed throughout the world, including joining the International Orchestra formed by Leonard Bernstein in 1989 as the Berlin wall was coming down. Currently he travels the world as Very Young Composers education specialist developing project with El Sistema in Venezuela and education organizations in Finland, South Korea, Japan, Norway, and other countries.