From citing his keen interest in connecting with his students, to his love for, and talent with, music to his ability to turn even the most mundane tasks into a fun and interesting learning opportunity, those who voiced their support for Ben Wahlund, this year’s winner of the Excellence in Undergraduate Instruction Award, demonstrated how he embodies the qualities that make up the award criteria.
Wahlund is in his ninth year as an instructional faculty member in the School of Music’s percussion program. He holds a Bachelor of Arts in music performance degree, and Bachelor of Science degrees in elementary music education and secondary vocal and instrumental music education from the University of Mary in Bismarck, North Dakota. He first came to NIU in pursuit of his Performer’s Certificate in percussion and Master of Music in music theory and composition, which he earned in 2005.
Liam Teague, NIU Board of Trustees Professor and head of Steelpan Studies said Wahlund’s current studies at NIU are focused on better helping his students in the School of Music. “His caring spirit has led Ben to pursue an M.S.Ed. degree in clinical mental health counseling to develop better skills with more acute mental health challenges than previous generations,” Teague said. “As a father of two young children, I can only hope that they will be fortunate enough to have such an outstanding teacher in the future.”
Greg Beyer, professor of music and director of percussion studies at NIU has known Wahlund since Ben’s days as a student. They are now colleagues, and Beyer said that in addition to Wahlund’s talents as a performer, composer and teacher, he admires Ben’s ability to foster a feeling in his students that they are part of a supportive community. “An excellent example is helping fund food and art supplies for the NIU Percussion Ensemble winter concert preparation gathering,” Beyer said. “Students create assembly lines of holiday decorations, games and more, to make the musical performance particularly festive and memorable. The students love this.”
Beyer said that Wahlund goes above and beyond by not only attending the performances and recitals of percussion students but also helping them in the preparation process to think through every step of the recital to make it their very best. Beyer credits that extra effort with the students studying with Ben, “almost invariably giving highly polished, thoughtful and heartfelt performances.”
In his time at NIU, Wahlund has been an instrumental part of successful, innovative initiatives. For instance, The Himmelfarb Project, a unique collaboration where NIU music students wrote music inspired by sounds created by “hitting, scraping, climbing on and experimenting with” an iconic truck-turned-sculpture by noted artist John Himmelfarb.
Wahlund was also a key part of the Dirty Beats Project, a collaboration with faculty in music education, composition and music theory, along with DeKalb Schools music educator, composer and School of Music alumnae Marybeth Kurnat, where seventh graders from Huntley Middle School created original compositions after scouring the NIU east lagoon for items that could be used for their pieces. Seventh graders were paired with School of Music students to create their compositions, and performed them for a guest audience. Wahlund and Mary Lynn Doherty, assistant director of the School of Music and coordinator of music education were invited to present on the project at the New Directions in Music Education Conference at Michigan State University last year. Doherty will present on it again this summer at an international conference in Finland.
Music students Michael Speziale and Andew Kinsey commented on Wahlund’s commitment to “teaching the whole student.”
“We can’t be successful musicians without an understanding of how we work, and we can’t be honest artists if we don’t know how our music relates to who we are,” they said. “[Wahlund] is undoubtedly an essential part of the School of Music’s DNA and his hard work will live on through the lives of his students through the rest of their journey.”
