Dr. Chin Ting Chan, assistant professor of music composition.

“I realized that I wanted to be a composer fairly late. I was a pianist mostly, practicing too many hours a day, but I could never stop the urge to play some strange sounds (combinations of chords mostly, and of course banging inside the piano). I’ve always enjoyed creating since I was young. I was especially drawn to nature photography. I spent a lot of time in high school going out to photograph everything from the Hong Kong cityscape to the American rural landscapes and squirrels. This part of me really laid the foundation for my urge to create through composing music now. Actually, I find that in photography I use the same exact process as in composition–composition is organizing sound materials in logical (objective), or expressive (subjective) ways. My students constantly amuse me with their wild creative ideas. I have really enjoyed teaching aspiring musicians here at #BallState. I enjoy talking about music objectively and subjectively with my students; I especially love it when we argue, and ultimately discover together the possibilities beyond what we could see in the moment.” 📸 @jkwcreative