School of Music Welcomes Bryan Nichols to the Faculty

The Penn State School of Music is proud to welcome Dr. Bryan Nichols to the music education faculty, beginning fall 2018.

Bryan E. Nichols is currently a teacher and conductor at the University of Akron, where he instructs undergraduate methods classes and supervises student teachers. He has a variety of teaching experience at all levels, including extensive experience as a middle school and high school choral director. He has been active with the local and state organizations of the National Association for Music Education (NAfME) and the American Choral Directors Association (ACDA). He served on the future directions committee of the Kentucky Music Educators Association and was the Region 4 choral chair. He currently serves ACDA as the Ohio middle level R&R chair; he was the high school R&S Chair for the state of Kentucky, where his choirs consistently received superior ratings, performed for the Kentucky Music Educators Association, and toured all regions of the country. Ensembles under his direction have commissioned five works and have given joint performances with ensembles from the Indianapolis Children?s Chorus and the Minnesota Boychoir.

Nichols has been published in the Journal of Music Teacher Education, Musicae Scientiae, Journal of Research in Music Education, Psychology of Music, UPDATE, Contributions to Music Education, General Music Today, and the Choral Journal. He serves on the advisory board of the Music Educators Journal and the editorial board of Contributions to Music Education. His scholarly interests include singing accuracy, music teacher education, and sight-singing pedagogy, and he has presented his work at both national and international conferences. Nichols earned his bachelor's degree in music education from the University of Kentucky, a master's degree in music education from Florida State University, and his Ph.D. from the University of Washington.