Music Education Faculty

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 ofArts 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 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. Becky Marsh is the Associate Professor of Choral Music Education at Butler University (Indianapolis, IN) where she teaches undergraduate and graduate music education courses, music theory and aural skills courses, and conducts Spectra, the university’s treble choir. Dr. Marsh holds the Doctor of Philosophy in Music Education, with a choral conducting cognate, from Michigan State University. In 2020, she was recognized as Butler University’s Outstanding Professor of the Year in Teaching and, in 2022, was named the Indiana Music Education Association’s Outstanding Collegiate Music Educator. 

Dr. Marsh 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 her career in music teacher education, she 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 Musical 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 state, regional, national, and international conferences and events. She also frequently serves as a guest conductor for regional and statewide honor choirs in the Midwest. Dr. Marsh’s research interests include music teacher identity development, students’ acquisition of musicianship skills, and creative musicianship in the ensemble setting. She is published in both state and national journals. Her dissertation, Preservice Music Teacher Initial Field Observation Experiences, 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 inviting and inclusive spaces.

Nationally, Dr. Marsh facilitates the Music Teacher Identity Development ASPA within the Society for Music Teacher Education. In addition to her appointment at Butler, she is the Music Theory Chairperson on the board of the Indiana Music Education Association and serves on the board for the Indianapolis Children’s Choir. At Butler, she advises the university’s chapter of the National Association for Music Education as well as Freshly Brewed, the university’s treble contemporary a cappella group. 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.

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, BrassTechniques, 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.

Professor Tim Brimmer is an Apple Distinguished Educator teaching core curricula at Butler University in the School of Music with the Jordan College of the Arts and serving on the Come to Believe team to launch Butler’s two-year Founder’s College.

MUSIC FOR HEALTHY AGING 
Dr. Brimmer serves on a collaborative team of interdisciplinary colleagues; bridging the traditionally disparate fields of music, psychology, pharmacy, communication science disorders, and physics to work alongside physicians, nurses and caregivers generating research that advances quality of life for the elderly and their caregivers. Current research projects include prescribing music for rousing and calming, increasing physical, mental and social health, reducing harmful noise levels and advancing hearing recovery. 

APPLE DISTINGUISHED EDUCATOR  
As an Apple Distinguished Educator, Dr. Brimmer advances teaching, learning, research, and creativity through digital arts solutions in schools, health care facilities, corporate and community organizations in the USA, Brazil, Japan, and Hong Kong. His current focus is on designing artful technology solutions that advance quality of life for the elderly and their caregivers. 

MUSIC EDUCATION   
Tim’s work in music education is internationally acclaimed and far-reaching; conducting and teaching in Brazil, Cuba, Finland, Hong Kong and Japan. For 15 years, Dr. Brimmer directed Butler’s Vocal Jazz Activities and Jordan Jazz, hosting Butler’s annual Vocal Jazz Fest, inviting selected high school and collegiate musicianst to with Bobby McFerrin, Manhattan Transfer, New York Voices, The Real Group (Stockholm, Sweden), Todd Rundgren, Rockapella, Take 6, John Pizzarelli, Elvis Costello, Jonny Dankworth, Cleo Lane, Marvin Hamlisch, The Swingle Singers (London) and The Four Freshmen (Butler alums). He also served as a Visiting Scholar and Overseas Consultant for the Hong Kong University of Education. Professor Brimmer’s areas of expertise include music pedagogy, music psychology, clinical supervision, acoustics of music and speech, choral-orchestral conducting, and vocal jazz. For fourty  years, Dr. Brimmer as been designing technology-rich solutions that advance teaching and creating  visual arts, arts administration, dance, theater and music. 

Professor Brimmer holds a Bachelor of Music Education from Central Michigan University, a Master of Music Education from Northwestern Michigan University, and a Doctor of Arts from Ball State University. 

For more information, visit http://blue.butler.edu/~tbrimmer or email tbrimmer@butler.edu