faculty/staff

Kimberly Councill, Ph.D.

Associate Professor of Music

I spend much of my week driving all over central Pennsylvania observing our student teachers and meeting with the outstanding teachers—many of them Susquehanna graduates—who serve as our students’ co-ops. It’s fun and exciting to spend that much time with students and quality music making.

Since I arrived at Susquehanna less than 10 years ago, the number of music majors has grown from 48 to nearly 80. I credit our music department’s outstanding reputation and our fabulous, rare combination of both a quality music program and a quality music education program. With a variety of experiences and terrific training, our students graduate with real options—whether it be teaching or going to graduate school for performance, musicology, conducting or music therapy.

Our music education majors also have the same performance opportunities as our performance majors. As I tell my students, "You have to be the best musician in the classroom. You wouldn’t teach French if you weren’t fluent in it."

But I don’t want someone to view music education as a fall-back position. Teaching music is too hard and demanding to make yourself, and your students, miserable for 180 days a year. You have to want to do it.

To help students gauge their passion, our introductory course is a very broad, in-your-face overview of what music education involves. Our freshmen observe 10 different teachers involved in music education from babies to 18 years and they each briefly teach a kindergarten class. Afterwards, some say, "I’m definitely going to teach" and others say, "No way am I going to do this"—good to know as a freshman and not a junior.

All our students also do lots of volunteer work and community outreach, tutoring and performing in local public schools and pre-schools.

Basically, I’m looking for strong advocates for children, music and education. My ultimate question? “Would I want this person teaching my own child?” In fact, many of my own students have taught my daughter. I can’t think of a better compliment.