Faculty & Staff in Music

Jim Bates

Professor

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Dr.Jim Bates is Director of Orchestral Activities at Otterbein University and serves as an assistant conductor for the Westerville Symphony (OH) and Columbus Symphony Youth Orchestras. Teaching duties at Otterbein include String Methods and Pedagogy, Bass, and Introduction to Music. Dr. Bates coordinates the music history area of the department and teaches Music History and Literature –Romantic and Modern Eras.

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Dennis Davenport

Professor

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Dennis Davenport is Professor of Music at Otterbein. Beginning Fall 2025 he is also Director of Integrative Studies, the core general education program at Otterbein. Dennis teaches in the Musical Theatre BFA program (MUSC 2043/2044 History of Musical Theatre), the Honors program (HNRS 2600 The Shock of the New: Music and Modernism; HNRS 3000 Your Brain on Music with Psychology Prof. Cindy Laurie-Rose), and SYE 4202/INST 2606 Vienna Travel Course with Music colleague Jim Bates. His recent music direction for…

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Karen Eckenroth

Associate Professor

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Karen Eckenroth coordinates the voice area, directs the Opera Theatre program, teaches studio voice, and ear training. Dr. Eckenroth received her Bachelor's and Master's degrees from the Pennsylvania State University, and her Doctorate from the University of Arizona in Tucson where she studied voice with Elizabeth Mosher and Paula Fan. Dr. Eckenroth has performed as soprano soloist for such works as Beethoven's Symphony No. 9, Verdi's Requiem, Mendelssohn's Elijah, Haydn's Lord Nelson Mass, and Rossini's Stabat Mater. Her opera roles…

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Lori Kay Harvey

Associate Professor

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Lori Kay Harvey is in her 15th year as a member of the musical theatre faculty at Otterbein. She has music directed over 35 shows in central Ohio and throughout the US and has performed extensively as an actor/ singer/ dancer on both national and international tours and in numerous regional theatres. Recent Otterbein credits include “Into A Lamplit Room,” “The Theory of Relativity,” “Chicago,” “Singin’ in the Rain,” “Big Fish,” “Thoroughly Modern Millie,” and “Adding Machine.” Tour credits: “Joseph and…

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Jennifer Merkowitz

Professor

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Jennifer Bernard Merkowitz is Associate Professor of Music at Otterbein, where she is Head of Theory and Composition. She also teaches aural skills and electronic music. She received her MM and DMA in Composition from the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, and she holds a BA in Music and a BS in Computer Science from the University of Richmond. Dr. Merkowitz is a composer, pianist, and violist whose diverse inspirations have included liturgical chant, basketball games, the growth patterns of plants, and frog calls.

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Nicholas Ross

Professor & Department Chair

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Nick Ross performs as soloist and chamber musician throughout the United States and Europe. He has performed recitals and concertos at such venues as St. Martin’s-in-the-Field and St. John’s Smith Square, London, the Field Room in Dublin, and the Engelse Kerk in Amsterdam. Nick is active as a recording artist, and he has released four solo piano recordings to date, as well as two collaborative discs of Arthur Honegger’s music.

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Gayle Walker

Professor and Director of Choral Activities

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Dr. Gayle Walker is in her sixteenth year as Director of Choral Activities and Professor of Music at Otterbein University in Westerville, OH, where she is responsible for the organization of five vocal ensembles, conducts Concert Choir and Opus One a cappella/jazz ensemble, and teaches private voice as well as classes in conducting, aural skills, and music history. Dr. Walker is currently the President of the Central Division of the American Choral Directors Association, and past president of the Ohio Choral Directors Association, and from which she received the Distinguished Service Award in 2014.

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Michael Yonchak

Associate Professor

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Dr. Michael Yonchak currently serves as Director of Bands and Associate Professor of Music Education at Otterbein University. A native of Ohio, Dr. Yonchak completed his Bachelor of Music in Education and Master of Music at Youngstown State University, and the Doctor of Musical Arts in Wind Conducting from the University of Kentucky. His current research interests surround American composer Frank Zappa, leading to numerous journal articles and presentations and, by extension, topics related to popular music and culture. Dr. Yonchak is also an active percussionist on the Columbus music scene, with performances ranging from indie-rock to jazz to traditional flamenco and Irish percussion.

Dr. Yonchak is an endorsee for Vic Firth, Inc., and Finnegan Hill Irish Percussion (www.finneganhill.com).

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Joss Bowling

Associate Director of Marching Band

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Joss Bowling is in their first year as Associate Marching Band Director at Otterbein University in Westerville, OH. Prior to this role, they have four years of public-school teaching experience directing grades 6-12 band and orchestra. Additionally, they taught oboe and bassoon studio lessons as an adjunct faculty member at the University of Mount Union. Beyond their teaching experience, Joss has extensive performance experience as an orchestral and contemporary bassoonist.  They were the principal bassoonist of the Alliance Symphony Orchestra in Alliance,…

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Patricia Hultz

Administrative Assistant

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Nico Lawson

Coordinator of Music Operations & Programs

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Nico Lawson (they/them) is the Coordinator of Music Operations and Programs and also serves as the Building Coordinator for the Battelle Fine Arts Center. They hold a Master of Fine Arts in Dance from the Ohio State University and a Bachelor of Arts in Dance Studies and Spanish from Meredith College. Outside of Otterbein, Nico is a choreographer and performance artist whose work includes interactive exhibitions, stage and site-specific performances, and dance film. They are a 2025 recipient of an Artist Project Grant…

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