Craig Resta

Craig Resta earned degrees from the University of Maryland College Park (PhD), Indiana University (MM), and Baylor University (BME). His teaching experience has encompassed rural, urban, and suburban settings in each geographical region of the United States having worked in Texas, Indiana, California, New Jersey, Maryland, Georgia, and Ohio. Teaching positions have included elementary and middle school orchestra and instrumental settings, and extensive work with students from early elementary through doctoral levels in music education.

Dr. Resta holds research interests in string pedagogy, sociocultural paradigms in music education, educational leadership and arts education advocacy, and educator preparation at multiple levels. He has presented at professional conferences for the Maryland, Georgia, and Ohio Music Educators Associations (MMEA, GMEA, OMEA), Music Educators National Conference (MENC/NAFME) Eastern and North Central Divisions, and GMEA Collegiate Music Educators Conference (CMENC). Other research, clinic, and panel sessions include The Chattanooga Symposium on the History of Music Education (NAFME/HSRIG), American String Teachers Association (ASTA) National Conference, the International Society for Music Education (ISME), and College Music Society (CMS).

His work is published in the Journal of Historical Research in Music Education, Contributions to Music Education, Maryland Music Educator, New Jersey TEMPO, and American String Teacher. He is also a contributor to the second edition of the Grove Dictionary of American Music produced by Oxford University Press. Dr. Resta has adjudicated school music events in Texas, Maryland, Georgia and Ohio, worked as Advocacy Chair on the Maryland MEA Executive Board, assists as a member of the OMEA Research Committee, is on the Editorial Board of Contributions to Music Education, and serves as a Music and Education Scholar for the Ohio Humanities Council.

His principal violin teachers include Kevin Lawrence, Stanley Ritchie, and Davis Brooks. Research mentors are Marie McCarthy, Thomas Binkley, and Harry Elzinga. Performing experience includes programs at The Round Top Festival, The Berkeley and Boston Early Music Festivals, and The Bloomington and Washington Early Music Festivals. Concert and workshop appearances include venues in Texas, Indiana, Tennessee, California, Georgia, Virginia, Maryland, Washington DC, Massachusetts, and abroad in Switzerland, Germany, and China. He is a member of the groups Armonia Nova and Bernardus, scholarship-based ensembles focusing on medieval repertoire, literature, and culture.

An instrumental and string specialist, Dr. Resta is currently Assistant Professor of Instrumental Music Education at Kent State University. He teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in string pedagogy, pre-service music teacher education, instrumental music teaching, and music education research and foundational studies.