School of Music

Pursue Your Passion

Team: Faculty

  • Dr. Don Ester
    May 4, 2020 by

    Dr. Don Ester is professor and area coordinator of music education at Ball State! “I have wanted to teach as long as I can remember. I was the organist and director of my home church’s adult choir starting as a 13-year-old. I was sometimes the substitute music teacher while I was in HS. I always […]

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  • Dr. Meryl Mantione
    October 9, 2019 by

    Meryl Mantione is the professor of voice and head of the voice-area at Ball State University. “When I first went to college (Elmhurst College in Elmhurst, IL) I was a chemistry major, although I studied voice, sang in choral ensembles, and did two recitals. It wasn’t until age 27 when I decided to return to college […]

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  • Professor Yoko Shimazaki-Kilburn
    August 6, 2019 by

    Yoko Shimazaki-Kilburn is a voice professor at Ball State. She is originally from Hamamatsu, Japan – home of the Yamaha Corporation as well as one of their largest piano factories. “My inspiration in becoming a singer was an accumulation of multiple moments. Some examples include the times I mimicked the singers from “Takarazuka” show of […]

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  • Dr. Christoph Thompson
    July 8, 2019 by

    Christoph Thompson is the assistant professor of music technology – recording engineer, and co-director of the Ball State Music Media Production program. Dr. Thompson is also the division coordinator of the Music Production Boot Camp at this week’s Music for All Summer Symposium. “The camp is a great way for students who are interested in […]

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  • Dr. Peter Opie
    July 6, 2019 by

    Peter Opie is the cello professor at Ball State. “I’m originally from a town in the United Kingdom called Sittingbourne that’s about 40 miles from central London. I started cello lessons at the age of 3 with a local teacher (the nearest music school would not accept students that young!). Then, at age 9, I […]

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  • Dr. Andrew Crow
    June 19, 2019 by

    Dr. Andrew Crow is the director of choral activities (Ball State University Choirs). Dr. Crow was born in Fort Wayne, but his family moved away when he was young and grew up around the Midwest: Indiana, Ohio, Kentucky. “I had no notion of becoming a conductor until I was in my late twenties. Honestly, one […]

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  • Dr. Rebecca Burkart
    March 14, 2019 by

    Dr. Rebecca Burkart is the instructor of Music History. She teaches MUHI 100, MUHI 200, MUHI 105, MUHI 687, MUHI 498, and harpsichord lessons, as well as Early Keyboard Performance Practice (MUHI 687) and really loves teaching American Popular Music (MUHI 105) for non-music majors. “I grew up on a farm near Anderson and attended Lapel […]

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  • Dr. Jon Truitt
    January 30, 2019 by

    Jon Truitt, director of opera and associate professor of music performance. When asked about some of the challenges and joys of producing an opera, Dr. Truitt shared: “The challenge in putting together an opera is also the joy: putting on the best piece of art that we can with the limited resources that we have. […]

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  • Dr. Chris Van Hof
    November 2, 2018 by

    Chris Van Hof is a Grand Rapids native and assistant professor of trombone. “My mom was a music teacher, organist, and choir director, so I was always around music. I initially wanted to play double bass, but mom had an Oldsmobile Cutlass Calais and the bass wouldn’t fit in the trunk, so I settled on trombone after […]

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  • Dr. Caroline Hand
    October 12, 2018 by

    Dr. Caroline Hand, assistant professor of music performance and associate director of bands. “I’ve always known I wanted to teach music, but, early on in my undergraduate career, I wasn’t sure in what area. Thanks to some great mentors at my undergraduate institution, I was given some opportunities to rehearse and conduct at a summer […]

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