Theatre and Dance

Ames

Aaron Ames, DMA

Instructor - Head Accompanist
Office: Simpkins 515
Email: AD-Ames@wiu.edu

Aaron Ames is an accomplished pianist, vocal coach, orchestrator/arranger, and educator. He is an Instructor 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, Dr. Ames has served in multiple musical capacities across academic, community, and professional theatrical settings. At Appalachian 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, Dr. Ames has extensive experience in the classical realm, with 15 years of experience as a collaborating artist with singers, instrumentalists, chamber groups, and opera. Most recently, he was the music director and conductor for the third production of Michael Ching’s opera, Notes on Viardot, at Music On Site, Inc. (Wichita, KS). As a graduate assistant for Lyric Theatre @ Illinois, he contributed 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 2nd Piano Concerto in 2014 and Schumann’s A minor piano concerto in 2016.

A native of California, Dr. Ames earned a Doctor of Musical Arts (DMA) degree in Vocal Coaching and Accompanying from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign in 2025, under the tutelage and guidance of Julie Gunn, Michael Tilley, and Casey Robards. He also holds a Bachelor of Music (BMus) degree in Piano Performance from the University of the Pacific (Stockton, CA), studying under Frank Wiens and Rex Cooper, and a Master of Music (MMus) degree in Piano Performance from Appalachian State University (Boone, NC), studying under Rodney Reynerson.