Music Ed Professors
(317) 940-6422
Professor & Coordinator of Music Education
Associate Director of Undergraduate Studies SoM
Dr. Penny Dimmick, Professor of Music and Coordinator of the Music Education Program joined the faculty at Butler University in 1991. She teaches both undergraduate and graduate courses in music education and also serves as the Associate Director of Undergraduate Studies in the School of Music. Prior to her appointment at Butler she taught public school general music and percussion in Indiana and was an adjunct faculty member in music education and percussion at Taylor University, Ball State University, and Marian University. She holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Music Education from Taylor University, and a Master of Music and Doctor of Arts degrees in Music Education and Percussion Performance from Ball State University. She is certified in Orff, Kodaly, First Steps in Music, Conversational Solfege (F.A.M.E.) and Level I of the Teaching Guitar Workshops sponsored by GAMA and NAfME.
Dr. Dimmick’s research interests include teacher preparation, curriculum design, arts integration, and the neuroscience of music. She is a recipient of several teaching awards at Butler University and received the Outstanding Alumnus Award from the School of Music at Ball State University. She is a frequent clinician at state, national, and international music conferences and has recently served as conductor for the Nebraska All-State Honor Children’s Choir and the Indiana All-State Honor Children’s Choir. She has served on the Board of Directors of the Indiana Music Education Association (IMEA), as Collegiate Chair of the North Central Division and on the National Collegiate Advisory Board of NAfME, the National Association for Music Education. She is also an evaluator and team chair of accreditation visits for the National Association of Schools of Music.
Dr. Dimmick is an Associate Director with the Indianapolis Children's Choir, where she directs Levels I and II of the Preparatory Choirs, a part of the Early Childhood Division of ICC. When she is not teaching, she enjoys traveling, hiking, time at the beach, and attending professional baseball games with her husband John, and her two grown sons John and Joshua.
Dr. Penny Dimmick
(317) 940-6115
Assistant Professor of Instrumental Music Education
Brian N. Weidner is the assistant professor of instrumental music education and coordinates the graduate program in music education. He holds a Ph.D. in Music Education from Northwestern University with additional degrees in music and education from Olivet Nazarene University, Northern Illinois University, and Illinois State University. Before coming to Butler, he was a lecturer in the music and education departments at Lake Forest (IL) College. Previously, he taught at McHenry (IL) High School for 12 years, serving as its Fine Arts Coordinator and Director of Bands.
He has published articles in the Journal of Research in Music Education, Music Educators Journal, Bulletin of the Council for Research in Music Education, Journal of Music Teacher Education, Psychology of Music, and regional journals and has presented nationally and internationally. He is also the author of Brass Techniques and Pedagogy. His research focuses on the development of independent musicianship through large music ensembles and processes of disruption in music teacher education.
At Butler University, he teaches Instrumental Music Methods, Administration of School Music Programs, Brass Techniques, Historical & Philosophical Foundations of American Music Education, Research in Music Education, Curriculum Design & Assessment Practices, Repertoire Studies in Music Education, Arranging and Composing for Educational Ensembles, and Critical Issues in Music Education.
Dr. Weidner’s office availability can be found at https://calendly.com/bweidner Feel welcome to set an appointment.
Links to recent articles can be found at Butler University Digital Commons or feel welcome to contact Dr. Weidner for digital copies of papers.
Dr. Brian Weidner
(317) 940-6898
Assistant Professor of Choral Music Education
Dr. Becky Marsh is Assistant Professor of Choral Music Education at Butler University. She holds the Doctor of Philosophy in Music Education, with a choral conducting cognate, from Michigan State University. During her time at Michigan State, Dr. Marsh was awarded a university-wide Excellence-in-Teaching Citation. She earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in music education, as well as a Post-Baccalaureate Certificate in Music Theory, from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro.
Prior to pursuing graduate degrees, Dr. Marsh served as a choral music educator in North Carolina. While there, the choral ensembles grew in both size and spirit, performing locally for the community and nationally as a part of the National Youth Choir. She initiated two student-led contemporary a cappella groups as well as a Choral Leadership Council designed to give students ownership and voice in their program. Additionally, she was the Music Director of Lexington Youth Theatre for three seasons, preparing K-12 students of various backgrounds as well as conducting pit orchestras of varying sizes and instrumentations for full-length musical theater productions.
An active presenter and guest clinician, Dr. Marsh has shared her scholarship and passion for teaching at local, state, regional, and national conferences and events. Her research interests include music teacher identity development, students’ acquisition of musicianship skills, and creative musicianship in the ensemble setting. Her dissertation, Observing the Observer: An Examination of Preservice Music Teachers’ Initial Field Observations, examines the intersections of identity and initial field-observation experiences of preservice music teachers. Additionally, her co-authored review of Randall Allsup’s Remixing the Classroom: Toward an Open Philosophy of Music Education is published in Action, Criticism, and Theory for Music Education. Dr. Marsh continually strives for her work to inform music teacher education, support practicing music educators, and make music classrooms an inviting and inclusive space for all students.
At Butler University, Dr. Marsh teaches Foundations in Music Education courses, Teaching the Young Singer, Comprehensive Choral Music Techniques, various music education elective courses, and aural skills courses. She also serves as a co-advisor to Butler University’s chapter of the National Association for Music Education. In addition to her appointment at Butler, she serves on staff for the Indianapolis Children’s Choir. Dr. Marsh also sings and tours as a member of mirabai, a professional women’s ensemble dedicated to empowering women by expressing, through music, the full range of women’s experiences and narratives. She hopes to inspire music educators to envision and enact a culture of school music education that is welcoming to all students, functions as an integral part of the school community, and promotes lifelong engagement with music.
Dr. Becky Marsh
.png)
.png)
