The Arkansas State University music department has appointed a new interim assistant director of bands for the 2023-2024 season.

Nicolas Balla, who earned his doctorate in musical arts at the university of Michigan in 2023, has been hired as the interim assistant director of bands at A-State.  He is filling the position after his predecessor, Steven Riley, was appointed interim director of bands earlier this summer.

“It was really apparent that it was a type of community I wanted to be a part of,” Balla said when discussing his interaction with other faculty members during his interview process.  “I felt really welcomed,” he said, “it was just ‘we were all going to be in this together.’” 

 Other music department faculty members seem to echo Balla’s sentiment.

 “Whether it’s our chair, Dr. Clark, all the way to, you know, our adjunct faculty, we have a wonderful team and I think he’s going to add to that team for sure,” said Steven Riley, the interim director of bands, and director of athletic bands, at the university.

Balla added he was impressed with A-State students.  

“They’re very engaged and want to live up to a high level of expectation,” he said. 

Balla said the music for the wind ensemble is the “newest and most challenging repertoire,” and that his students are consistently meeting the very high expectations.  

Rike Robinson, a senior majoring in music composition, said of Balla “the level of artistry and collaboration has been unmatched ever since he got here.”

Balla was hired on a one-year appointment for the 2023-2024 season.  The music department hopes to seek out applicants to permanently fill the position soon.

“We hope to search for candidates for more permanent positions this fall,” said Lauren Schack Clark, interim chair of the music department.

The most important thing Balla wants his students to take away from his teaching is that growth comes from change and change comes from self-awareness.  

“Creating a disposition of constant self-reflection to create that feedback loop of awareness, change, and development,”  he said, “ is one of the guiding principles with which I make my teaching decisions.”

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