Kimberly Councill
MM Music Education 1997
BM Music Education 1995
For Kim Councill, the path to UNC Greensboro started with the first-ever Carolina Band Festival created by School of Music Professors Emeriti Kelly Burke and John Locke:
“I was seventeen years old and a high school junior when Dr. Burke called me out by name and asked, ‘What can I do to get you to come and study with me?’ That moment changed my life, and I remain incredibly grateful. I started studying with Dr. Burke right after that festival, driving with my parents the four-hour round trip to my clarinet lessons. Dr. Burke also encouraged me to apply for the North Carolina Teaching Fellow program, which granted me a full ride to college and the wonderful opportunity to teach band, choir, and preK-8th grade general music in Guilford and Jackson Counties.”
And so began a twenty-nine-year career in music education:
“I often reflect on how fortunate I was for the experiences I had in both in my undergraduate and master’s degrees. UNCG prepared me beautifully for my PhD. Dr. Locke and my experiences as a camper, counselor, and ensemble conductor prepared me to run my own successful music camp for fifteen years. My experiences prepared me to demand the most from my musical self, and I have maintained that standard of excellence for every preservice teacher who I have ever taught.”
Councill says it was in the School of Music that she learned to be a well-rounded and informed musician, and that has translated directly into what she is doing today:
“I learned that the teacher needs to be the best musician in the room. Dr. Burke made me think about all aspects of music-making in every lesson. She quizzed me on theory and history, and regularly asked, ‘How would you teach this to someone?’ She understood that we are all teachers–not just the music educators–, and that lesson lives with me daily. My faculty hears it from me all the time!
“I will always hold deep gratitude for everyone who contributed to my educational journey, but I am especially thankful for Dr. Kelly Burke, Dr. John Locke, Dr. Jim Prodan, Dr. Patti Sink, Dr. Joe Shively, and Dr. Maribeth Yoder-White.”
And there’s another reason Councill holds the UNCG School of Music close to her heart:
“Unquestionably, meeting my husband was absolutely the best part of my UNCG experience. We got to know each other through our experiences in the NC Teaching Fellows Program and our initial experiences as freshmen in the UNCG Wind Ensemble (such a daunting task!). But the Wind Ensemble’s trip to perform at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts at the beginning of our second semester in college was AMAZING! We still have the poster from that January 1992 performance hanging in our home, and it has always been a moment of pride for us.”
Story by Terri W Relos
————————
Dr. Kimberly H. Councill joined the University of Utah’s School of Music community as Director and Professor of Music in 2022 after serving as Bucknell University’s Associate Dean of Faculty for the Arts and Humanities Division in the College of Arts and Sciences for three years. Beginning her undergraduate years as a proud North Carolina Teaching Fellow, Dr. Councill has spent twenty-nine years as a music educator and music teacher educator, teaching in the public schools of North Carolina, the Ohio State School for the Blind, the University of North Carolina-Asheville, and Susquehanna University in Selinsgrove, Pennsylvania.
Dr. Councill’s research has been presented at state, regional, national, and international conferences and published in the Journal of Research in Music Education, Journal of Music Teacher Education, Update, Music Educators Journal, International Journal of Music Education, PMEA News, North Carolina Music Educator, and the Florida Music Educators’ Journal. Her research focuses on music teacher recruitment, effective student teaching seminars, and the meaningful inclusion of special learners into music classrooms.
For over fifteen years, Dr. Councill provided numerous musical opportunities to children in central Pennsylvania, serving as a volunteer music teacher in local preschool and elementary classrooms, directing multiple music camps, serving as president of District 8 in the Pennsylvania Music Educators Association, and creating “MUSE” (Musical Understanding in Special Education), a unique musical outreach program for children with a variety of physical, emotional, behavioral, and intellectual needs. Additionally, she has directed music education research and created educational partnerships with public schools and universities in Western Australia (2015 and 2018) and Glasgow, Ireland (2018 and 2020).
Dr. Councill is the recipient of numerous awards for teaching excellence and service to students, including the Susquehanna University Distinguished Teaching Award, two Susquehanna University “Whatever It Takes” Awards for her role as stage manager in the University’s 150th anniversary celebration at Carnegie Hall and for her service to students, and the Citation of Excellence Award for Outstanding Contribution to Higher Education from the Pennsylvania Music Educators Association in April 2019.
Bio provided by Kimberly Councill