Hopefully, you and your students are thinking of interview questions for Kevin Costley. Don’t forget to leave them as a comment to the “Your Chance to Interview Kevin Costley” post. You have until October 6th.
In case you don’t know Kevin, I wanted to share more about him in this post. I asked Kevin some questions about his life and he has shared some things with me that you might not know…
- Is there anything about yourself that you think students would find interesting?
I am an identical twin! My twin brother is great at hunting and sports. I’m the musician in the family. - Can you tell us more about your current position?
My current job is not in music. I am an Associate Professor of Early Childhood Education at Arkansas Tech University. My job, training students to become public school teachers, centers around my for children and learning. Everything I believe about development in children is transferred to my writing of children’s piano works. - What is your favorite part of the composition process?
My favorite part of the composing process is having a title in my head and sitting down and writing a piano piece to match the title, much like sculpting a sculpture. - When did you start composing music for students?
My first compositions were published in 1997, so I am relatively a new composer on the scene.
This is Kevin Costley’s official bio:
Dr. Kevin Costley holds several graduate degrees in the areas of curriculum and instruction and pedagogy/literature, including a Ph.D. from Kansas State University. At the age of 27, he was distinguished as one of K-States youngest doctor’s. For nearly two decades, he was owner/director of The Keyboard Academy, specializing in small group instruction.
Year 2010 will be Dr. Costley’s 16th year teaching at Inspiration Point Fine Arts Colony Piano and String Camp. He is an exclusive/ major writer for the FJH Music Company. He has composed/published over 180 piano works. His solos/ensembles have been and are on the National Federation of Music Club lists and other state lists, including the Royal Conservatory of Music. His creative music has received positive critical reviews in leading national music publications. As Associate Professor of Early Childhood Education, teaching both undergraduate and undergraduate courses, Costley presents early childhood music/lyrics presentations at state and national conferences. He also serves frequently as clinician for piano workshops, adjudicates numerous state, regional, and national/international composition contests and judges many piano regional festivals, guild auditions, and piano competitions.
