UCM Community Music Program

We are very pleased to welcome professional guitarist Tom Pender to our teaching staff.

Professor Thomas Pender is adjunct faculty for the University of Central Missouri and the University of Kansas School of Music. Mr. Pender also served as faculty at Longview Community College for 22 years. In addition, he has taught privately for over 40 years. Mr. Pender holds a degree in Music Performance and another degree in Music Composition from The University of Missouri Kansas City Conservatory of Music.

Mr. Pender also served as the guitarist and arranger for the NFL Kansas City Chiefs TD Pack Band for eleven seasons. He performs regularly as a solo guitarist, with Monique Danille, various big bands, combos and also is the leader of the Tom Penderblast Ensemble.

Mr. Pender has performed in various shows including Rent, Man of LaMancha, It Ain’t Nothin’ But The Blues and Eubie to mention a few. In addition, Mr. Pender has performed with many jazz and Rhythm and Blues groups including Martha Reeves and the Vandellas, Mark Pender of the Conan O’Brien Show, O.C. Smith, and Claude Fiddler Williams. His recordings include solo guitar as well as innumerable music sessions, TV commercials, and radio spots.

We have a new voice teacher this year!

Gracie Carlton is working on a Master of Arts degree with an emphasis on voice at UCM. She has a Bachelor's degree in music from Mississippi State University, and looks forward to sharing her knowledge, experience, and passion for music with her students.

Meet our new flute instructor, Ms. Amy Knost!

Originally from St. Louis, Missouri, Amy Knost is an Instrumental Music Education Major and a Drum Major for the Marching Mules! Her primary instrument is flute, however, she also plays the alto saxophone in Jazz Band. Amy is currently a part of multiple organizations on campus, including Sigma Alpha Iota and the National Association for Music Educators and Marching Band. She also works on campus in the advising center as a Senior Success Coach. Most of the time, you can find Amy “watching parks and rec, hanging out with her friends and counting down the days till Christmas.”

Registration is open now through August 26 for the fall semester of the UCM Community Music Program. This semester we are offering online private instruction on piano & flute, and we are thrilled to be offering a new online class: “Beat Making and Online Music Tech”. Dr. Issac Bickmore (UCM faculty coordinator of Music Education) will be leading this four session class in which students will learn to create music like they hear on YouTube and video games using Soundtrap.

Flute lessons are being taught by by UCM Marching Mules Drum Major Amy Knost, and piano lessons are being taught by award winning piano major Colin Levins, and UCM faculty member Dr. Mia Hynes.

Campus Music Community 1. Provide high quality musical instruction to the community at large. CMP students and their instructors will collaborate on the development of short- and long-term goals. Instructors will devise a plan for achieving those goals, easily reproducible practice strategies, and opportunities to develop...

Hello and Happy New School Year! UCM CMP will be offering piano lessons. We will be offering online lesson delivery; UCM is upgrading the WiFi capabilities in the Utt building so that transmission by our teachers will be more reliable than ever before. Registration will be opening within a week!