Faculty Scholar Series
Faculty Scholar Series
Dr. Lauren Hicken, music education
Dr. Sarah Luebke, voice (with Kevin Bylsma, piano)
Wednesday, March 11, 2026
8 P.M.
Bryan Recital Hall
Program
Laura Hicken, music education
Title: What We Learn about Music Teaching from Studying Skilled Teachers’ Gaze Behavior
Abstract:
Eye-tracking research has existed for many years and been used within many domains (e.g., psychology, sports) to study attention, decision-making, and cognition. Eye-tracking research is relatively new to music education and offers new ways to study teacher behavior. Recent research has revealed that the visual attention and gaze behavior of music teachers varies as a function of teaching context and teaching experience (e.g., Heinsen, 2022; Hicken, 2023; Marcum, 2017).
In the current study, one of the first conducted with K-12 students in a live school classroom, I asked band directors (N = 3) with at least 5 years of teaching experience to wear eye tracking glasses while teaching a small beginner band class of like instruments. The glasses allow me to see what the wearer is looking at and how long they look which gives insights into their attention and priorities while teaching. I conducted a follow up interview two weeks later to ask participants about their teaching and their attention during the class. The results of this study will provide new insights into how teachers process their environment in a live teaching context with multiple students and how they make decisions moment-to-moment in that environment.
During this presentation I will briefly demonstrate how eye tracking works and what we can learn about music teaching with this technology. I will share preliminary findings from the beginning band director study, and I will discuss the implications of this body of research on music teaching and learning, especially related to preservice teacher training.
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Sarah Luebke, voice (with Kevin Bylsma, piano)
Title: Voices of East and West: Chen Yi’s Meditation
Abstract:
This lecture recital explores Chen Yi’s Meditation: Know You How Many Petals Falling and Monologue for soprano and piano, highlighting her synthesis of Chinese and Western traditions. Setting Tang Dynasty poetry by Meng Hao-ran and Chen Zi-ang, Chen transforms ancient texts into a contemporary reflection shaped by her experiences during the Cultural Revolution.
Through translation and musical analysis, this presentation examines her integration of Peking Opera vocal gesture within a Western art song framework. By blending Daoist philosophical themes, pentatonic and quartal harmonies, and operatic declamation, Chen creates an intercultural musical language expressing resilience, longing, and cultural memory in a distinctly 21st-century voice.
Laura K. Hicken, Assistant Professor of Music Education, joined the faculty of Bowling Green State University in 2024 as an instrumental music education specialist. Prior to her appointment at BGSU, Hicken was on the faculty at Towson University in Maryland. Hicken earned her Ph.D. in Music and Human Learning at the Butler School of Music at The University of Texas at Austin, her Master of Music degree in Music Education at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, and her Bachelor of Music Education degree at Furman University in Greenville, South Carolina. Prior to teaching at the collegiate level, Hicken taught high school and middle school band, middle school general music, and elementary music in South Carolina and Florida.
As an active clinician, Hicken presents sessions at state and national teacher in-service conferences and at professional development meetings for local school districts. Hicken’s research is in the area of music teacher cognition. She is especially interested in teacher attention and decision making during various teaching situations and uses eye-tracking data to study these processes. Hicken is also interested in teacher perceptions and practices of including students with disabilities in music classes. She has presented her research at state, national, and international conferences, and is published in The Orff Echo, The Journal of Music Teacher Education, and The Journal of Research in Music Education.
Hicken’s professional memberships include the International Society for Music Education (ISME), The National Association for Music Education (NAfME), the Society for Research in Music Education, and the Society for Music Teacher Education.
Dr. Sarah Luebke is a 2025 American Prize National Finalist and a versatile soprano recognized for her artistry as both a performer and pedagogue.
As a performer, Dr. Luebke has appeared in major works including Handel’s Messiah, Brahms’ Ein deutsches Requiem, Poulenc’s Gloria, Rossini’s Stabat Mater, Bach’s St. Matthew Passion, Sibelius’ The Tempest, and James Whitbourn’s Annelies. She made her Carnegie Hall debut with Vivaldi’s Magnificat in 2023.
A trail-blazing interpreter of 21st century vocal repertoire, she has collaborated with and performed works of Chen Yi, Missy Mazzoli, Benjamin Moore, and James Whitbourn.Stage roles include Juno (The Tempest), Masha (Enemies: A Love Story), Isabelle Eberhardt (Songs from the Uproar), Yum-Yum (Mikado), Rose Maybud (Ruddigore), La Fée (Cendrillon), Fiordiligi (Così fan tutte), Lauretta (Gianni Schicchi), Najade (Ariadne auf Naxos), Monica (The Medium), Serpina (La Serva Padrona), Nora (Riders to the Sea), Nella (Gianni Schicchi), Lucinda (Into the Woods), and Jane McDowell (The Stephen Foster Story). Concert work includes Messiah (Handel), Annelies (Whitbourn), St. Matthew Passion (Bach), Requiem (Fauré), Ein deutches Requiem (Brahms). She was as a young artist with Twin Cities’ Opera Guild and Janiec Opera Company of the Brevard Music Festival.
Recognized for her studio teaching, she was selected for the 2022 NATS Intern Program and awarded the 2022 NATS Mario Martinez Intern Prize and 2020 ESM Teaching Assistant Prize. Her students have won and placed in national competitions, including the National Classical Singer Competition, Schubert Club Competition, Schmidt Vocal Competition, state, regional, and national NATS auditions, and The Voice (NBC). They have been accepted into top music schools and performance programs, including The Juilliard School, Eastman School of Music, Boston Conservatory, Interlochen Summer Music Festival, and Brevard Music Festival, and several are now teaching at universities and conservatories throughout the United States.
Dr. Luebke is an active lecturer and clinician, presenting at National Association of Teachers of Singing (NATS) and College Music Society (CMS) conferences, and giving masterclasses, recitals, and workshops at universities across the U.S.
Prior to her appointment at Bowling Green State University, Dr. Luebke taught applied voice and pedagogy at SUNY Fredonia and French lyric diction at the Eastman School of Music. She holds a DMA in vocal performance from the Eastman School of Music, an MM from the University of Kentucky, and a BM from St. Olaf College. Her principal teachers include Kathryn Cowdrick, Robert McIver, and Everett McCorvey.
With more than two decades experience as a vocal coach, collaborative pianist, choral conductor, and organist, Kevin J. Bylsma is a musician of impressive depth and ability, well known for his work in opera, art song, and oratorio. A longtime member of the Toledo Opera staff, Mr. Bylsma is currently the Head of Music Preparation and Chorus Master, and was recently names Co-Artistic Director with the company. He was formerly Music Director of the Department of Community Programs for the Michigan Opera Theatre and vocal coach, accompanist, and chorus master for OPERA! Lenawee. In recitals and master classes he has collaborated with the great American singers Samuel Ramey, Diane Soviero, Marilyn Horne, Dawn Upshaw, Michelle De Young, Irina Mishura, Katherine Lewek, and Jennifer Rowley. He is the Co-founder and Artistic Director of the Ann Arbor Festival of Song, and, for the past twenty-eight years, he has served the historic Mariners’ Church of Detroit as Associate Organist and Choirmaster.
Dedicated to the education and training of the next generation of operatic talent, Mr. Bylsma is Coordinator of Opera and Repetiteur at Bowling Green State University’s College of Musical Arts, responsible for vocal coaching and serving as a collaborative pianist for the school’s large body of young singers. Mr. Bylsma also served on the artistic staff of OperaWorks, an intensive opera training program, based in Los Angeles, CA.
A native of Grand Rapids, MI, Mr. Bylsma received his musical training at Calvin College, Bowling Green State University, and the University of Michigan—where he received the Robert Glasgow Organ Scholarship. He currently resides in Toledo, Ohio’s Old West End historic neighborhood with his cats: Rex and Dickens!
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Updated: 02/24/2026 01:01PM