Start: November 10, 2025 5 p.m.
End: November 10, 2025 6 p.m.
Location: Hargreaves Music Building
Session 1: Creating a Professional Studio
12:00-12:50 MU 309
Clarity, consistency, and communication are hallmarks of well-managed, professional studios. Explore basic business practices and get organized (energized!) with ideas for studio financial stability, time management, marketing and superior customer service.
Session 2: Entrepreneurism and Creativity in an Anxious World
5:00-5:50 MU 401
In a disrupted, anxious world, an entrepreneurial mindset and daily creative habits are key components for enriching your career journey and sustaining an artistic life. Explore practical strategies for navigating and thriving in today’s professional environment.
About the Speaker
Karen Thickstun recently retired as instructor of piano pedagogy at Butler University. She is founding advisor of the Butler MTNA Collegiate Chapter. Four of her pedagogy students have received the MTNA MarySue Harris Studio Fellowship award. Thickstun holds degrees in piano performance/economics from Duke University, business administration from University of Virginia, and piano pedagogy from Butler University.
Thickstun recently retired as founding director of the Butler Community Arts School. Serving 2,000 children through private lessons, group classes, and camps, instruction is provided by over a hundred Butler University students that she mentored in professional teaching practices. Working with afterschool programs, community centers, and United Way agencies, Thickstun developed a network of community partners to provide access to the arts for inner-city youth. To fund outreach classes and provide need-based scholarships, she wrote and received grants for more than $100,000 annually for ten years.
Thickstun is active in the Music Teachers National Association (MTNA) as a past president. She previously served as MTNA President (2021-2023), MTNA President-Elect (2019-2021), MTNA Vice President (2015-2017) and MTNA Secretary-Treasurer (2013-2015). Thickstun is a nationally-certified teacher of music (NCTM) through MTNA. She is also active in the Indiana Music Teachers Association (IMTA) as a past president and arts awareness and advocacy chair. She received the Distinguished Service Award in 2002, the Teacher of the Year award in 2008, and was recognized as IMTA Foundation Fellow in 2025.
Thickstun is coordinator of the MTNA Business Digest, an online quarterly publication, and oversees the Business Resources section of the MTNA website. For many years, she authored a business column for American Music Teacher. She has presented numerous pedagogy and business sessions at MTNA National Conferences and other local, state and national conferences.