Dr. Julie Hill
Musician, Educator, Leader
Biography
Dr. Julie Hill
President & CEO, Arts United
Dr. Julie Hill is the President and CEO of Arts United, the nonprofit leader in the arts for Fort Wayne, Indiana, and the 11 surrounding counties of Northeast Indiana. Arts United's downtown Arts Campus is home to the Arts United Center, the only theater ever designed by renowned architect Louis Kahn, now a state-of-the-art venue nationally acclaimed for its universal design. As the region's leading arts organization, Arts United amplifies the arts every day, everywhere, for everyone in Northeast Indiana.
Dr. Hill is an internationally respected music educator, performer, scholar and nonprofit leader with more than 30 years of experience spanning K–12 and university teaching, arts administration and nonprofit executive leadership. Before joining Arts United, she was President, CEO and Co-Founder of Global Citizen Adventure Corps (GCAC), a nonprofit that expands access to global service-learning for rural students and community members.
Dr. Hill previously served as Chair of the Department of Music at the University of Tennessee at Martin, where she was Professor of Percussion beginning in 2005. A dynamic and sought-after speaker and artist, she has delivered hundreds of workshops, concerts and lectures around the world. Her research focuses on social mobility through music, particularly championing Black women and underserved youth in Northeastern Brazil.
As a conductor, lecturer, clinician and performer, Dr. Hill has presented in Peru, Poland, Mexico, Brazil, France, Puerto Rico, South Korea, Taiwan and across the United States. She also tours internationally with the award-winning Caixa Trio. She is fluent in Brazilian Portuguese and has working proficiency in Spanish.
Her excellence as a teacher-scholar has been recognized with numerous honors, including the University of Tennessee President's Educate Award (inaugural recipient), the UT Alumni Association Outstanding Teacher Award, the Cunningham Outstanding Teacher/Scholar Award and the Hardy Graham Distinguished Professorship. She is a Member Laureate of Sigma Alpha Iota International Music Fraternity and a past president of the Percussive Arts Society.
Dr. Hill has served as Principal Percussionist with the Paducah Symphony Orchestra and as Co-Editorial Director of Percussive Notes. She has published numerous compositions for percussion ensemble and steel band, many with a Brazilian flavor and accessible to players of all ages. She is co-author of All-Inclusive Etudes (Row-Loff Productions) and Music for Multi-Percussion: A World View (Alfred Music), with additional works published by Innovative Percussion and Row-Loff. Her academic writing appears in Percussive Notes and the Garland Encyclopedia of World Music.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Dr. Hill partnered with the Tennessee Music Educators Association and the CMA Foundation to create and host Keeping the Beat by TNMEA, an acclaimed interactive webinar series that connected world-class professionals from every genre of music with students learning from home. Over 62 episodes, the series featured guests including Los Lobos, Chuck Leavell, Joan Jett and Raul Malo, drew viewers in 45 countries and generated more than 2 million social media engagements.
Dr. Hill holds a Doctor of Musical Arts from the University of Kentucky, a Master of Music in Percussion Performance from Arizona State University and a Bachelor of Music Education from the University of Tennessee at Martin. She is an artist and clinician for Yamaha, Zildjian, Remo, Innovative Percussion and Grover Pro Percussion.
Having traveled to more than 30 countries and all 50 U.S. states, including 59 of the nation's 63 national parks, Dr. Hill continues to inspire the next generation of artists, educators and global citizens.
Contact me
Please reach out to me via email if you have a question, need, or just want to make an appointment to talk; I’ll help in any way I can. Thank you! Julie