Professor Rebecca Burkhardt joined the University of Northern Iowa faculty as Director of Orchestral Activities in 1988. Besides her duties as Music Director of the Northern Iowa Symphony Orchestra she is Music Director for the UNI Lyric Theatre.

From Dialogue of the Carmelites and Madame Butterfly to Fiddler on the Roof and HAIR , her theater performances encompass the gamut of music-drama and musical comedy. She has appeared as guest conductor of the Moscow Chamber Orchestra, Waterloo/Cedar Falls Symphony Orchestra, Opera Illinois and as Music Director of the Northern Iowa Youth Orchestra and the Dubuque Youth Symphony. Her performance of Beethoven's Symphony No. 7 opened the Gala Concert inaugurating the new Gallagher-Bluedorn Performing Arts Center on the UNI Campus.

She visited Russia during a performance tour with the Northern Iowa Chamber Orchestra where she performed with the Moscow Chamber Orchestra and conducted the Symphony Orchestra on its tour of New York City in the spring of 2001. She toured Costa Rica with the Northern Iowa Symphony Orchestra and has performed as a guest conductor of the Waterloo-Cedar Falls Symphony Orchestra on several occasions.

Dr. Burkhardt is Associate Director for Graduate Studies in the UNI School of Music, is a member of the music theory and conducting faculties at UNI, and active as guest conductor, clinician and performer. She performed as guest clinician and conductor for the 2004 Iowa All-State Orchestra and performed with that group at the 2005 National Governor's Convention in Des Moines . In 2003 she was given the Award for Faculty Excellence by the Iowa Board of Regents and is President-Elect of the College Orchestra Directors Association.

A native of Texas , Dr. Burkhardt earned a Bachelor of Music degree in Horn Performance from Southwestern University (TX), a Master of Music Education degree from the University of North Texas , and her Ph.D. at the University of Texas , Austin . She is a student of Fiora Contino, Murry Sidlin, Henry Charles Smith and Kenneth Kiesler. Besides her conducting credits, she is active as a composer and songwriter.