Dr. McKay Tebbs Appointed as Director of Undergraduate Music Technology at SUU

Published: September 14, 2021 | Author: Ashley H Palmer | Read Time: 4 minutes

The Department of Music at Southern Utah University (SUU) is honored and delighted to welcome Dr. McKay Tebbs as the Director of Undergraduate Music Technology. He will teach classes in commercial music and recording. For the last 6 years, Dr. Tebbs has been living in Chadron, Nebraska where he directed the guitar studio and Music Industry program at Chadron State College. He has helped his students engage in the music industry by setting up internships for them and taking them to the NAMM show in Anaheim, CA. 

Dr. Lawrence Johnson, Chair of the Department of Music at SUU, shares, “Dr. McKay Tebbs will be extremely valuable to our music students as our new Director of Undergraduate Music Technology, bringing with him decades of experience in the field that he can share with our students as they prepare to enter the music world that relies more and more on having knowledge of music technology. Dr. Tebbs will also be instrumental in helping to expand our Center for Music Technology and bringing it more up-to-date, as well as fleshing out the courses in our proposed commercial music degree as it works its way through the approval and accreditation process. Dr. Tebbs will be a familiar face and name to Cedar City from when he previously taught as an adjunct professor in the SUU Department of Music, and we are fortunate to have him return as a full time faculty member teaching in both the undergraduate and graduate music programs.”

Originally from Hurricane, Utah, Dr. Tebbs previously worked at SUU in 2007 when he was hired as an adjunct instructor of guitar. He left in 2010 to attend graduate school and returned to SUU briefly in 2014 before leaving for Nebraska. He began playing the guitar at age 12 and was teaching people in his hometown by the time he was 17. It was during that time that he discovered Berklee College of Music from which he eventually graduated. During performances, Dr. Tebbs talks with audiences about the importance of building dreams and gaining an education to help make those dreams come true. He specializes in crafting original guitar interpretations of jazz standards and pop/rock music and hopes that his performances will inspire others to work hard and dream big.  

Dr. McKay Tebbs says, “The opportunity to come here and be a part of a new program is very thrilling. Bringing commercial music to SUU will be a huge benefit to our students and their futures. I'm excited to help them learn recording and production skills that they will be able to apply to their careers in commercial music. My hope is that I can be a resource in showing them what their career options are and how they can qualify for those opportunities.”

Dr. Tebbs earned a doctorate degree from the USC Thornton School of Music and has over 20 years’ experience as an educator. He performed with Tuacahn in St. George, Theater West of Scottsbluff, NE and was a special guest performer on the Nebraska Public Radio show Friday Live. Dr. Tebbs was a featured soloist in the contemporary guitar concerto Chaos Theory by James Bonney and performed with many different jazz and pop artists.

The College of Performing and Visual Arts at SUU is thrilled for Dr. McKay Tebbs to serve as the new Director of Undergraduate Music Technology. We look forward to him sharing his expertise in commercial music and recording. For more information about the Department of Music at SUU, please visit www.suu.edu/pva/music. 

About the College of Performing and Visual Arts

The College of Performing and Visual Arts (CPVA) at Southern Utah University comprises 26 academic programs including liberal arts (BA/BS) and professional (BFA, BM, BMEd) degrees in art, design, dance, music, and theatre. It includes graduate programs in the fields of arts administration (MFA, MA), music education (MME), and music technology (MM). More than 60 full-time faculty and staff are engaged in teaching and mentoring over 900 majors in the College. CPVA presents over 100 performances, lectures, presentations, and exhibitions each year and is affiliated with the Southern Utah Museum of Art (SUMA), Utah Shakespeare Festival, and the Center for Shakespeare Studies. Southern Utah University is an accredited member of the National Association of Schools of Art & Design (NASAD), National Association of Schools of Dance (NASD), National Association of Schools of Music (NASM), and the National Association of Schools of Theatre (NAST) making SUU the first public university in the state of Utah to be accredited by all four associations. For more information about the College of Performing and Visual Arts, visit www.suu.edu/pva.

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