Karen Thickstun, instructor of piano and piano pedagogy
Karen Thickstun has served as director of the Butler Community
Arts School at Butler University since its inception in 2002. She
coordinates the piano pedagogy program at Butler University and
directs the Butler Piano Pedagogy Symposium and the Butler Piano
Camps. She holds degrees from Duke University (piano performance,
economics), University of Virginia (masters in business
administration) and Butler University (masters in music education).
She is a Nationally Certified Teacher of Music (NCTM).
Thickstun is past president of the Indiana Music Teachers
Association and serves on the national board of the Music Teachers
National Association (2008-2010). She chairs the national Forum for
Local Associations for MTNA. In 2008, Thickstun was recognized as
"Teacher of the Year" by the Indiana Music Teachers Association.
She authors a regular business column, "It's All Your Business,"
for the American Music Teacher periodical. Her articles
have also appeared in Keyboard Companion, Junior
Keynotes, and Indiana Music Teacher. She has written
and received numerous grants for arts education projects from the
Indiana Arts Commission, Arts Council of Indianapolis, Christel
DeHaan Family Foundation, The Indianapolis Foundation, Lumina
Foundation, and the Lilly Endowment.
(317) 940-5500
kthickst@butler.edu