Bill Aikens, DMA, joined the music faculty at Colorado Mesa University in 2016. Prior to moving to Colorado, he earned his Doctor in Musical Arts degree in oboe performance at Arizona State University in December 2014, where he studied with Martin Schuring. Aikens performed with ensembles throughout the state of Arizona, including guest appearances with the Phoenix Symphony, the Tucson Symphony Orchestra, the Arizona Bach Festival, the Paradise Winds and the Mill Avenue Chamber Players. He served as an adjunct professor at Estrella Mountain Community College and was the band director at the Desert Marigold School in south Phoenix, Arizona.
A native of Pittsburgh, Aikens earned his bachelor's in music education at Duquesne University and his master’s in performance at the College-Conservatory of Music at the University of Cincinnati. His teachers included Dr. Mark Ostoich, Scott Bell, Jim Gorton, Dwight Parry, Christopher Philpotts and Lon Bussell. Following his master’s degree, he held the position of principal oboist of the Great Falls Symphony Orchestra and was a member of the Chinook Winds Quintet in Great Falls, Montana for three years. During this time, he performed numerous concerts for students grades K-12 with the Chinook Winds Quintet and maintained his own private teaching studio.