Championing Music at Gardner-Webb University

Dr. Aaron Rice: The GWU Department of Music—The North Carolina Destination

BOILING SPRINGS, N.C.—Gardner-Webb University’s Department of Music is experiencing a season of bold growth and vision under the leadership of Dr. Aaron Rice, associate professor and department chair. Since arriving in 2022, Rice has helped boost enrollment by 30 percent and expanded student opportunities across North Carolina and beyond.

In recognition of his efforts, Rice has been named the recipient of the 2025–2026 Rising Star Award, an honor given by the Faculty Development of Instruction and Improvement Committee. The award recognizes emerging excellence in teaching, leadership and scholarship.

“I’m incredibly honored and grateful,” Rice reflected. “It encourages me to continue to invest and do all the things that I love. We want to be the strongest music unit at a Christian institution within North Carolina.”

A native of Gastonia, N.C., Rice felt a calling to ministry early in life and initially focused on contemporary worship music. But his love for choral music was rekindled during college, leading him to pursue graduate work at East Carolina University and Southwestern Seminary.

Rice’s leadership has already made a regional impact. Gardner-Webb’s choral workshops have grown to include elementary school students, giving young musicians access to college-level instruction and performance experiences. University ensembles have performed at the North Carolina Choral Directors Association conference and Charlotte’s Thanksgiving Eve Parade.

“Seventy percent of our students are from within a 100-mile radius,” he said. “I think we’re strategically positioned to have an outsized impact on Gaston, Lincoln, Cleveland, Rutherford, Caldwell, Catawba—all those counties. We’re ready to do it, and we are doing it.”

Rice is also preparing students for national and international opportunities. He helped lead a performance trip to France in 2024 and is raising funds for a 2027 trip to New Orleans. He has helped secure resources to open a digital piano lab and to fund research to support future church musicians.

“Honestly, I want to make sure the things that we’re doing are great,” he said. “We want to see our ensembles performing at conferences. As we continue to get better and better students, we’re watching them grow and thrive and do well. We’re going to see them end up performing on these big stages. As soon as they graduate, we want to make sure that these students are No. 1, getting placed, and then they’re out there, crushing it. We want to see them doing exceedingly well.”

Gardner-Webb University is North Carolina’s recognized leader in private, Christian higher education. A Carnegie-Classified Doctoral/Professional University, GWU is home to nine colleges and schools, more than 80 undergraduate and graduate majors, and a world-class faculty. Located on a beautiful 225-acre campus in Boiling Springs, N.C., Gardner-Webb prepares graduates to impact their chosen professions, equips them with the skills to advance the frontiers of knowledge, and inspires them to make a positive and lasting difference in the lives of others. Become More at gardner-webb.edu.