Soyeon “Sally” Kang is a Music Education faculty member.

“I am the K-6 general music specialist here at Ball State. I was born and raised in South Korea and moved to the United States with my husband in 2013. Before moving to the US both my husband and I taught in the K-12 environments and at the university level for 11 years. My primary instrument is the piano, and I have been performing as a pianist with orchestras, soloists, and choirs. I started to play the piano when I was five (in Korean age, four in American age). As I became interested in playing the piano, my dad bought a piano for me as a gift for my 6th birthday. I don’t think that my dad had ever taken a formal piano lesson, but he taught me a piano duo piece (Chopsticks March). It was the first song I played with my dad on the piano. It was when I just started to learn how to read music, but he made me realize that learning by ear is such a gem and natural way to learn music.  

“I love teaching the Elementary General Music Methods class where our future music teachers explore teaching strategies and materials that can lead children to discover the joys and importance of being musically educated. We are learning about different approaches to music teaching and learning by our experience in the class, so their active participation is the most important factor for their success in learning as a teacher. We meet three days a week at 9 am where we sing and dance a lot, so students and I agree that it’s a good musical workout. 

“My favorite part of being at Ball State are the people whom I have been meeting. Even before I joined as a faculty member and interviewed with the search committee members as a candidate, I had an impression about Ball State as such a supportive community for both faculty and students. During the interview, I felt that my experiences and opinions were valued as a member of the community of professionals and that School of Music faculty members works together to provide students with quality learning experiences that are relevant and practical throughout the program.”