Kimm Julian – The Journey to Full Professor: A transformation from old to new
When I was hired in 2005 I was basically hired to do two things teach voice lessons and develop an
opera program. In addition, I was assigned to teach a vocal literature course in conjunction with Vocal
Pedagogy and Art Song on a two year rotating schedule. The reason I came to MSU and not accept any
other teaching offers was the intriguing creativity of developing, from day one, an opera program. I had
been a professional opera singer but had little experience in producing, directing, musically preparing
and conducting. Plus, I was challenged to perform the productions within the limitations of the recital
hall.
The academic year 2009-2010 was a major turning point in my appointment to the Music Department at
MSU-Mankato. I had four graduate students who came to our department to study with me. The opera
program was in full swing with talented and experienced students in undergraduate and graduate
programs. The music faculty showed their support and with some funds from their ensemble
allocations, I produced a contemporary opera Christopher Sly by U of M composer Dominick Argento in
the fall. Previously, the fall semester was dedicated to developing operatic skills ending with an opera
scene performance. This was good preparation for the full opera production in the spring. The success of
Christopher Sly, with the assistance of a walk on “comprimario role” by Provost Scott Olson, encouraged
us to take on a very challenging and rewarding W.A Mozart’s Cosi Fan Tutte in the spring.
During winter break I ended up in the hospital with an emergency appendectomy and naval hernia. My
Doctor insisted on an eight week recovery period, however, against his advice, I felt that I had to resume
my duties right at the start of classes, as the spring Mozart production was a huge undertaking. Dr. Linda
Duckett who had collaborated with me on Christopher Sly was to be the accompanist, assist in musical
preparation and perform the recitatives on our harpsichord. Typically when preparing an opera we
spend the first 6-8 weeks musically coaching and memorizing the music before staging leading to runthroughs prior to the performance. At the beginning of February Dr. Duckett was called to fill in on
campus in an administrative role and was not able to fulfill the musical preparation of the opera. We
had to find a pianist who was capable to play and able to coach the opera in Minneapolis. This change
came with a financial and program price. Do we need to have opera in the music department?
Beware the Ides of March! The good news was that I received notification of tenure by the
administration only to hear a very disturbing word, retrenchment. As the administration was looking to
reduce our budget by nearly $10 million, I was considered part of the performance faculty and not
crucial to our two departmental pillars, Music Industry and Music Education. Therefore, I was informed
that my position would be retrenched………………… However, with two of our senior faculty, Drs. Paul and
Diana Moxness accepting early retirement, in April the department made a proposal to the Dean stating
without Diana Moxness and myself, there was no specialist to teach voice and the vocal pedagogy
course required for state teaching licensure. Therefore, reinstating me was critical to the program as I
had a Bachelor of Music Education degree and four years experience teaching in the public schools. Link
KJCV This was accepted by the administration but I was not informed of the decision until after spring
graduation. Then the Music Department reassigned me to Music Education classes. I would not be given
any teaching credit for opera, the opera budget was cut in half and there would be no departmental
assistance with musical preparation.
The emotional and physical ups and downs of the year lead me to extreme soul searching. As a singer in
his fifties with a full teaching load and really no time to pursue outside performances it became harder
and harder to keep in good vocal condition. I was so excited to throw my passion into being an Opera
Impresario. Learning to produce, direct, conduct opera with orchestra and seeing the students rise to a
higher musical art form was my new passion. However, the opera program would only continue if I
wished to do it on my own.
Looking ahead to new teaching assignments: Vocal Pedagogy and Diction, I was challenged not by
content but the structure of classroom teaching and using a textbook. As a studio voice teacher you
work in the moment as the needs of the students change every time you have a lesson. The literature
portion of Vocal Pedagogy was merely an overview of vocal music associated with high school contest.
The Art Song course was a survey of literature through presentation. I am not a believer in lecturing, as a
musician you must be a self-starter to perform, present and entertain. Both of those classes were
student driven by presenting vocal musical repertoire. I was not up to date on the scientific advances in
Vocal Pedagogy related neither to teaching nor of new ideas in diction training. The next year would be
arduous in assessing textbooks and current materials.
During the 2010-2011 academic year my new mantra actually came from a Mayo Clinic motto: The
needs of the patient come first. Questioning all that I do and how I need to approach my new teaching
duties I decided: The needs of the students come first. During this time, Dr. John Lindberg and I began a
series of hall talks (our offices are side by side) questioning our Music Education degree. When was the
last time the degree was revamped? In fact, we were still using a fifty plus year old program that was
not only out of date, but had little to do with the needs of today’s music programs and licensure
requirements. John Lindberg and I proposed a new curriculum design and we were given a two hour
load credit reduction in the spring of 2011 to work on the program. With no opera in the fall of 2010 I
had time to be able to formulate questions and begin observations of recent and longtime alumni on
numerous occasions throughout the year. Link Music Education questionnaire. New to the Music
Education requirements I realized that our load credits do not allow time for us to do student teaching
observations. I think philosophically it is very strange to take a student through four years of Music
Education classes and then not see them in the actual classroom. How can we evaluate them and our
own program? Since we don’t have a lot of contact in the public school system how can we know what
skills our students need? This was an extremely enlightening experience. I also believe it is a flaw in our
system that we have not been able to address. NASM expects that we supervise student teachers and I
would very much like to be a part of this initiative.
As we prepared for NCATE and anticipate our NASM (National Association of Schools of Music)
accreditation, I have researched and begun to align my courses with statutes dictated by those
organizations as well as BOT (Minnesota Board of Teaching requirements). New directions also dictated
the use of rubrics and the incorporation of teacher candidate characteristics in innovation,
effectiveness, collaboration and relevance. See Rubric link.
While assessing previous course syllabi I realized that the structure of the class I would teach focused on
lectures presenting: who, what, where and when. I believe that with the current access to an infinite
electronic source of information through the internet, application becomes much more relevant to real
world experience. Therefore, why and how seems to me a much better way of engaging students in
creativity and knowledge. These ideas will become the emphasis of my curricular core.
The rest of this narrative is a summary of my PDP reports since tenure. Considering my goals and
objectives I have assessed, questioned and changed to include new teaching ideas for the future of our
students in the 5 Categories of Article 22.
Criterion I
Vocal Pedagogy
My experiences at both the undergraduate and graduate degrees were two semesters of course work.
Typically the first semester focuses on scientific and anatomical functions of the voice, structure of the
lungs, larynx, nasal pharynx and mouth. The second semester stresses different teaching techniques and
styles of teaching. It also focuses heavily on practical teaching experience and how to address vocal
problems. Given the limitations of our course structure I feel that a basic knowledge of science is
important and can be simplified. Therefore focusing on actual teaching methods and experience, as
prescribed by the BOT, became the foundation of the class. Chapter lectures became student led
discussions with lesson plans then learning to actually structure a class of this nature. I feel that
although at times it was a little chaotic, students had to become much more responsible as they were
required to lead class and teach the information. Overall it was successful. The only real criticism was
that some of the more traditional students felt that I should be teaching and they wanted to respond
through work sheets and testing. My philosophy is that the only way to really know your content is to
be able to teach it. We also collaborated with area high schools offering voice lessons to teens for real
world experience by our students. This was highly successful due to the fact that many of the teens
continued working with the students beyond the semester and area high school teachers were
requesting more opportunities for their students. Personally I think we could have a very important
opportunity for recruitment and a way to give our students more real world experience by creating an
after school or Saturday music school. We could offer lessons in piano, voice, guitar, instruments and
classes in basic music skills and beginning theory. See Vocal Pedagogy syllabus Link
Literature associated with Vocal Pedagogy class
When I first taught this course I thought it was odd attaching it to the vocal pedagogy class and
therefore did not understand its relevance. My first year I taught the class more like an introduction to
Art Song lecturing on a wide variety of vocal literature that was not focused on young voices. After that
semester I realized that the class was intended mostly for the music educators. I then began to look for
solo literature appropriate for young voices. Hal Leonard Publishers has created a series of books for
high school solo vocal contest and that became my main source of content. The students in class had an
opportunity to learn songs from each of the voice category book (soprano, alto, tenor, bass/baritone)
and present them to class. They would have to explain how they would teach the song and point out
possible difficulties as well as rate the song and determine the appropriate level of musicianship needed
to successfully accomplish its performance. That was in 2006. Each time I repeat the class I became
aware of large holes in our content, particularly after interviewing and observing in the public schools. I
researched appropriate solo literature for contest through numerous High School League repertoire
listings. It has also become evident that the class should be an overview of song literature appropriate
for teaching voice from adolescents through high school. Songs appropriate for young voices had never
been addressed. I have never taught students of that age therefore my learning curve was challenged
and I sought advice from experts in the field, including a publisher of such music at Hal Leonard
Corporation (the largest music publisher in the world). We now are adding that music to our resource
library and I will incorporate more material into the classroom. Extended research has given me new
insights into appropriate music for high school contest, including Musical Theater therefore those
adjustments and materials are currently being ordered for our music library and incorporated in the
class as well.
The Art Song
Our current catalogue reads: The Art Song – Accompanied solo vocal repertory, with special emphasis
on the 19th and 20th centuries
Last spring I realized we had not come into the 21st century in our library holdings of vocal literature in
recordings and actual music. In collaboration with Lynne Weber, we are addressing those holes. I have
created the following proposal replacing The Art Song course for curriculum approval this fall:
Vocal Performance Literature – An exploration of vocal music from traditional Art Song to 21st century
performance literature. This will allow the course to include: opera, oratorio, musical theater,
unaccompanied literature and mainstream popular vocal music as well as small solo vocal ensemble
(one voice to each part).
Diction
The Diction class has also been a challenge. My experience was two semesters spanning four languages:
Italian French, German and English. I am teaching this class for the first time this fall. In the past the
main emphasis of the class had been phonetically associating the IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet)
with sounds and learning all the rules of when to use certain vowel and consonant sounds in each
language. Music Publishers today are including complete IPA Diction translations accompanied with
discs of native speaking diction coaches in all mainstream languages. Given the time restraint I also had
to decide if it was really important to address English. With the influence of a large Spanish speaking
society and the acceptance of Spanish vocal literature into mainstream performance repertoire, I chose
to eliminate English and add Spanish. With the assistance of the web and new materials that are spelling
out the IPA translations I feel that it is not important to learn the rules of how to transcribe the sounds
and remember all the rules in each language. Incorporating techniques on how to actually make sense
of the words through inflection and creative application to the music is more important. I decided on a
new textbook that has an online pronunciation component, an Internet Flip to teaching the course.
Through exercises associated with each language in the book the student learns the appropriate
linguistic sounds from a native speaker and records their voice. They can then listen to themselves and
submit their sound exercises to me via the Internet. I listen to their recorded exercises and make
appropriate comments either vocally or written. This element will speed up the association of IPA
symbol with sound so that in the classroom we can work on the creative inflections that can bring color
to the text. I look forward to finding out how the students review and react to this approach. Insert
Diction for Singers Syllabus 2012 hyperlink
Voice Lessons
I have determined that within the private lesson studio I need to think in terms of a curriculum that
reflects more distinction between the freshmen-sophomore experience and the junior-senior
requirements. Having been a part of a complete restructuring of the Music Education degree has really
affected my thoughts about where we are headed in the future and what is really necessary to be
successful after graduation. Several years ago I would not have included musical theater or pop styles of
literature. Given the current lasting trends in music, I can no longer ignore the literature or its style of
singing. These are way out of my comfort zone and knowledge; however, I will continue to explore the
techniques needed while still maintaining healthy singing techniques. This fall I applied for a semester
sabbatical next year to, in part, help me understand new vocal techniques related to non-classical vocal
style. Link Sabbatical application The majority of our graduates will be either teachers or
performer/teacher entrepreneurs. I have created a four-year program of what to expect the student to
have accomplished by the end of each year, taking into consideration: musicianship, technique, teaching
ability and final vocal presentation. See Vocal Program parameters: Four Year guidelines link
I have continued to seek student and peer evaluations. In the last few years the music faculty have been
so busy that teaching observations have been difficult to schedule. However, I have received letters
from colleagues describing the results as observed through student performances and participation in
the classroom and ensembles. I have also included a few of the student thank you notes I have received.
See a variety of student observations analysis, peer letters and thank you notes link as we discussed
no Ken Freed here
While researching the BOT standards and licensure requirements I helped to determine that we could
not adequately educate our students within the state mandated credit hours for graduation. Therefore
we presented a waiver with other MNSU institutions and with the acceptance of the university
curriculum committee we were able to get the 136 credit hour degree successfully approved. While
John Lindberg did most of the academic figuring and curriculum detail I was part of the team and helped
through the research. Our next project is to carefully reshape the BA and BM degrees. I will be heading
up the vocal area for each of these degrees.
Criterion II
When I first arrived here in 2005 I was still enjoying a highly successful performance career with an
agent in New York. I really did not expect the teaching position to totally cut me off from that career.
With the high demands of overload teaching I found it too difficult to get away for even a couple of days
to do a gig. Therefore I cut my ties with the professional world and my agent. The opera was the big
enticement to fulfill that part of me musically. Each year it becomes increasingly difficult to keep my
voice in what I would consider professional condition. I do continue to perform but on a very limited
basis. Since tenure in 2010 I have done the following performances:
Sang the Star Spangled Banner and the School Hymn for 13 Commencement ceremonies
Sang two Mankato Symphony Christmas Candy Cane Concerts Link
Sang in the La Traviata opera performance with MSO Link
Sang the Star Spangled Banner for the first two Mankato Marathons
Sang the Star Spangled Banner for 2 Lucky Seven Races in Minneapolis
Produced, Directed, Conducted: Christopher Sly, Cosi Fan Tutte Link
Produced, Conducted and collaborated with Theater and Art the opera Dido and Aeneas Link
Narrated a song set for a senior student trumpet recital
Recorded a voice over for our department performance series Link
Sang for my Mother-in-Laws funeral
Criterion III
My practice varies according to need for new literature. I was increasingly taking more time to work on
my conducting and directing skills. I would drive to Iowa and work with my mentor Dr. Robert L. Larsen,
Professor Emeritus at Simpson College and Founder and Artistic Director Emeritus of Des Moines Metro
Opera. He would also coach me on directing opera.
Having spent so much time performing in the theater it is difficult for me to go and sit through
professional performances. I am more comfortable as a performer not an audience member therefore I
rarely go to musical events outside of the departmental offerings. I am committed to attending the
many performances on campus and student recitals, as time will allow. I have attended opera
performances and solo programs at the NOA/NATS convention. This summer I went to Madison, WI to
see a student perform in an Operetta.
I attended and participated in workshops focusing on Music Education Curriculum programs at Luther
College and Music Education Curriculum Design presentations at the NASM annual meeting. I also
attended the NATS (National Association of Teachers of Singing) and NOA (National Opera Association)
joint workshop/conference to learn new innovations in opera and vocal techniques. I attended the Lisa
Popeil Vocal Workshop in LA and a conference for musicians on developing professional and
entrepreneurial skills.
I chose a new selection of Diction books with online teaching components for the diction course this fall.
I have explored new music for young voices to include in materials for Vocal Literature. I extract articles
out of my Professional Journals relative to issues for my students and will share them through D2L
during the school year.
Criterion IV
When it was established by the administration that our departmental pillars were Music Education and
Music Industry my position-changed course. My Music Education background and public school teaching
experience were part of the rationale to keep me here in the department. With that change and our
desire to create a new forward thinking Music Education program, our main focus was to find out the
skills needed to be successful in today’s public school environment. With that realization I adopted a
new motto: The needs of the student come first. I have diligently tried to create experiences that support
that motto.
One of the largest concerns amongt public school teachers was they did not get enough accompanying
and coaching skills during their baccalaureate degree. I felt that we needed to include that type of class
in our program. We now offer two semesters of accompanying, one in solo accompaniment and one in
choral ensemble accompaniment. Area directors and the faculty are excited in this change and how it
will help or graduates get an edge in the job market.
I have a very good relationship with Ken Freed, the artistic director and conductor of the Mankato
Symphony Orchestra. Over the years we have collaborated on many levels giving my students
opportunities beyond our resources on campus. Link to Ken Freed Letter of Support Last year all of my
students were given an opportunity to learn a solo from Handel’s Messiah. Through an audition format
four of my students were selected and sang solos for the Christmas Concert with the MSO. In February ,
in collaboration with the MSO and Artists from Minnesota Opera, they all were exposed to choruses
from Bizet’s opera Carmen. Three of my students even had solos with some of the artists. Separate
Links to MSO Programs and Musical Excerpts for Messiah, Carmen and La Traviata
The MSO collaboration continues this year, as the students will perform a shortened version of
Humperdinck’s opera Hansel and Gretel. This opera will also act as a recruitment tool in January and
February when we take it into area High schools.
As Chair and a member of the Scholarship and Talent Grant committee I was instrumental in reassessing
how we distribute scholarship money. We have always associated scholarship with musical performance
talent. Since Music Industry is a pillar program I thought we should also consider what those students
have to offer beyond musical performance. We established an internship with the Mankato Symphony
Orchestra. This has given a wonderful experience for the student and shows collaboration with the
department of music and the MSO.
I have taken students to opera performances at Simpson College, Minnesota Opera (with a back stage
tour of the Ordway). I took students to hear a master class with Simon Estes, Internationally renowned
Bass-Baritone at Carlton College. Link Cover of Master class
In addition to the vocal pedagogy class teaching area high school students voice lessons, last spring I
required the upper class students to teach collaboratively with me in the studio. This led to new levels of
success and understanding of techniques, musicianship and establishing individual teaching methods.
Camaraderie and positive competition were an added bonus.
In the spring all students were also required to sing in some type of small group ensemble. The group
was self-guided and coached briefly by myself. Some of the groups performed for the MMEA reception
and on a chamber music concert for the department.
Last spring I proposed to the faculty a mentoring/learning community for incoming freshmen and
transfer students. The program is in its infancy this year but we will meet three times a month to
present topics on: being a successful music major, how to practice, the use of smart music, how to
negotiate the music library, career development, etc. This time will also be for each of the faculty to get
a chance to meet all the incoming students in the department. Our intention is retention and success in
the chosen degree program. Upper class students will be available as official resources in mentoring. I
hope that we can create this group officially for next year within the campus structure.
Last spring I presented to the faculty the needs for technology, collaborative teaching, small groups etc.
in my studio. They agreed that I needed a larger studio to enhance the expanded curriculum and
technology. I look forward to new innovations in those areas in assisting the student’s success. My
studio is now set up with the ability to record sound and video. Students are submitting their repertoire
to me in digital form so that I can have a folder for each of them on my I-Pad at the piano. I have a
microphone and amp as well as an electronic keyboard available in the studio. Students have also noted
feeling less inhibited to singing out in the larger space freeing them up vocally. Link Julian Studio
numbers
Two years ago a thought had occurred to me that since I was interviewing alumni for input on new
directions for the Music Education Degree, why not allow the students to see the interview and ask
questions. While David Dickau was on sabbatical in the spring of 2011 his replacement was Alumnus
Steve Boelke, retired vocal music public school teacher. I spent numerous hours talking philosophy and
learning about public school teaching with Mr. Boelke. Thus began Inside the Practice Studio, based on
James Lipton’s Inside the Actors Studio. The format is simple: I read through the interviewees CV and
formulate a series of questions related to their musical journey. We recorded this session and I had a
Music Industry Student do the editing. Last year we had an intern from Bethany College who did
recordings and editing of sessions with our faculty. Thus far I have interviewed: John Lindberg, David
Dickau, Amy Roisum-Foley and Rich Meitin. The students have enjoyed watching this process. It was also
part of my inspiration for creating the freshmen and transfer student learning community. Most of the
music faculty do not get to interact with all the students. This was a format for us to present ourselves
to the incoming students. Student success and retention is our goal. Link Inside the Practice Studio
During the same spring of David Dickau’s sabbatical, the Chamber Singers did not meet. Even though I
had a very limited budget and would be give no teaching load credit I felt this was a perfect opportunity
to do an historical and important short opera Dido and Aeneas by Henry Purcell. To assist me in the
production I asked a student, Tyler Bush, to prepare the chorus musically. This was a great opportunity
for him to develop skills outside of his regular classroom experience. I have always wanted to do some
collaborative work with other departments and enlisted Dr. Heather Hamilton (Theater and Dance) to
direct the staging of the opera and through her we also enlisted the expertise of Dr. Curt Germundson
(Art). With Art, Theater and Music, I wanted to create a pre performance presentation discussing the
piece from sources in Arts and Humanities. Dr. Hamilton presenting the pieces as a theatrical work and it
inventions, Dr. Germundson exhibiting Art throughout time relative to the subject, Dr. John Lindberg
presenting the musical historical value of the opera and I filling in other aspects of the production. Dr.
Linda Duckett also participated as musical coach and harpsichordist. This format was a great way to
connect Arts and Humanities on a theme not only for the students, but also showed how the faculty can
be creative and collaborative across disciplines.
I continue to offer career and degree advisement to all of my studio students. Through private voice
lessons the students have access to me for advisement regardless of degree program. Many will ask
advising questions or general question during their lessons. In 2010-2011 I was asked to advise all voice
music education students. During the overload of private students in 2011-2012 the department shifted
Music Education advisement to another faculty member. I also always have my door open when not
teaching a lesson. Students will drop by for a cup of tea or coffee and chat or snatch a piece of hard
candy. This has certainly given them a place to hang and soak up whatever is going on in my
office/studio. I am more involved with the BA and BM students but advise all my students on keeping up
with more of the overall advising.
Recitals here have been evolving in the last three years. The old standard of the academic recital has
become boring, stale and unentertaining. I have set into motion a new set of standards that address an
up to date formula to be creative, innovative and collaborative. The four-year study plan, Link Four-year
plan, leads the student through these new innovations.
Sophomore Review
In the past we have had our students prepare three songs for Sophomore Review without much vision
on actual expectations. I put into writing and implemented new criteria including the new directions of
our music education degree. This was partly sparked in by an AHAA (!) moment. I realized that the pure
Italian vowels, used to promote healthy singing were a part of solfeggio: do-re-mi-fa-sol-la-ti-do. This
method is taught in music theory and aural skills, therefore, I feel that I should use this same method in
the studio to enforce and support continuity across our curriculum. Solfeggio has become a part of our
daily vocal warm ups. We now specify three different types of music including musical theater, opera or
oratorio and art song spanning three languages (English inclusive). We also added the element of
learning a new piece of music in a 24-hour period prior to the actual review sung a-capella. This turned
out to be challenging and very successful last spring.
Senior recital
The senior recital was basically to pick songs in several languages and present to the public. The new
requirements are based on a professional formula of interconnecting circles: talent and marketplace
demand connected by career. In other words, what will entertain the public through your abilities as a
performer?
New requirements
When thinking about the actual project please address the following ideas: Innovation, Effectiveness,
Collaboration and Relevance
One of the first breakout recitals was presented by graduate students Jennifer Coffman and guitarist,
Jonathan Moeller. Together they composed a pop oriented song cycle based on classical traditions.
Senior BA degree candidate David Nielsen gave a rather intriguing theatrical performance as Ludwig Van
Beethoven on the theme of his song cycle An die ferne Geliebte. Link to Doc? BM candidate Tyler Bush
created a European travelogue through folk song incorporating several students in ensemble, letter
writing- (spoken dialogue) and interesting costumes. Link to Doc. MA candidate Lauren Weber created
a very difficult one person opera in The Human Voice. In theatrical style, she took on a difficult human
issue through music and created an effective performance. I am particularly proud of the opera that was
Lauren Weber’s thesis project. It incorporated creativity, innovation and collaboration with a very
moving performance on a relevant issue of today. Link to Doc. These are just a few of the notable
recitals from four MA and eight undergraduate recitals I have overseen in the last three years.
I thoroughly enjoy advising graduate student theses and recital projects. The Music Graduate
Committee is currently looking at new innovations in thesis papers and projects. I have begun to go in a
new direction with students. Instead of reporting on the historical data of the music, I prefer journaling
the actual recital project. This allows the student to write about the creative process: challenges along
the way, and most important a reflection after the recital. I feel that this helps the student to prepare
for future entrepreneurial endeavors.
Criterion V
I continue to serve the department, university and community through performing at commencements,
The Mankato Marathon and Luck 7 race in Minneapolis. My expertise has been sought in presenting
Informances about opera to the Mankato community for the MSO and performing for the concert series.
My biggest service to the department was the research regarding music education skills needed in the
public schools for licensure. I also continue to chair the Scholarship and Talent grant auditions as well as
help to keep spearheading the renovations of the Elias J. Halling Recital Hall. Last year I even had the
opportunity to emcee our MMEA reception. I am chairing the search committee for the vocal position
we have open for next year.
As you can see from the fact that you are reading this narrative through the Internet, I have transformed
as a teacher in many ways. I have taken on new challenges in technology, assessed my teaching, looked
for the newest materials available and questioned the very programs we have continued for years. I tell
my students: You are limited only by your own creativity. I used to think about vocal music in terms of
the old classical ideals, but I realized that in some ways my books of music and scores are somewhat of a
museum. Technology has become such a part of what is happening in my studio. Three years ago I was
kicking and dragging my feet on learning how to incorporate technology in the lessons. Now I am
embracing it and finding new ways to assist the students and make music in the 21st century. My passion
today is to embrace new challenges and keep the needs of the students first and foremost in my
classrooms.
Most Sincerely Dr. Kimm Julian
Link School Hymn