While the school conducts a search for our new strings instructor, Burris has brought in two professors from Ball State University to serve in an interim role for instruction. During the search, Burris is welcoming Dr. Matthew Spieker, Assistant Professor of Music Education Instrumental and Strings at Ball State, as well as Dr. Douglas Droste, Associate Professor of Music and Director of Orchestras at Ball State. In addition to Drs. Spieker and Droste, students from Ball State’s music education and graduate school will be assisting throughout the semester. If you see any of them, make sure to say hello!
Dr. Matthew H. Spieker has been a music educator for over 25 years. He has taught all levels of orchestra and general music in U.S. school districts of South Carolina and Colorado, and from 2005 to 2007 Dr. Spieker taught internationally at the John F. Kennedy Schule in Berlin, Germany. Collegiately, he worked at the University of Arizona, and now at Ball State University an assistant professor of music education. Dr. Spieker has also conducted and adjudicated, throughout the United States and around the world, including Arizona, Colorado, Utah, New Hampshire, New York and South Carolina, and in cities abroad including Brussels, Vienna, Geneva and Beijing. Since 2000 Dr. Spieker has been a co-conductor of the “Internationales Orchester Camp” in Lüchow, Germany.
In Muncie, Droste has been called “The People’s Maestro” because of his rapport with MSO musicians, audience members, and presence in the community. He has been praised for dynamic performances and innovative programming. Droste has helped develop the MSO’s Family Series within the organization’s ever-expanding lineup of community engagement offerings. Droste programs accessible pops concerts, including the annual Festival on the Green, Holiday Pops, and Picnic and Pops with the Ball State University “Pride of Mid-America” Marching Band. At Ball State, Droste conducts the Ball State Symphony Orchestra, opera productions, and oversees the orchestral conducting program. In addition to performing traditional and contemporary repertoire, the BSSO has enjoyed unique collaborations with the BSU Jazz Ensemble, Ron McCurdy and his Langston Hughes Project, Sensory Friendly concerts for children with special needs, and a recording with Tony Award winner Sutton Foster.
Dr. Matthew Spieker
Dr. Douglas Droste
