Ames

Aaron Ames

Head Accompanist, Musical Theatre
Office: Simpkins 515
Email: AD-Ames@wiu.edu

Aaron Ames is an accomplished pianist, vocal coach, orchestrator/arranger, and educator. He is an Instructor of Musical Theatre and Head Accompanist at Western Illinois University, where he teaches courses in music theory, accompanies for classes and lessons, and serves as music arranger and director for senior projects.

Throughout his career, Mr. Ames has served in multiple musical capacities across academic, community, and professional theatrical settings. At Appalacian State University, he was an inaugural faculty advisor for the formation of the student-led Appalachian Musical Theatre Club. He has served as Music Director and Conductor for community, educational, and youth productions in upstate New York, Western North Carolina, and Central Illinois regions. Recent productions as music director include The Mad Ones (Western Illinois University), Little Women (Champaign Central High School), and Oliver! (Urbana Park District Summer Youth Theatre).

A versatile musician, Mr. Ames has extensive experience in the classical realm, having 15 years of experience as a collaboriating artist with singers, instrumentalists, chamber groups, and opera. As a graduate assistant for Lyric Theatre @ Illinois, he contributing as a music coach, accompanist, and conductor for a range of operatic and musical theatre works, including the Peter Hilliard and Matt Boresi chamber opera, The Last American Hammer. He has also performed as a featured soloist for the Ukiah Symphony Orchestra, where he performed Shostakovich’s 2 nd Piano Concerto in 2014 and Schumann’s A minor piano concerto in 2016.

A native of California, Aaron received his Bachelor of Music in Piano Performance from the University of the Pacific and his Master of Music in Piano Performance from Appalachian State University. He is currently pursuing a Doctor of Musical Arts degree in Vocal Coaching and Accompanying from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.