American creative artist Joseph Teeter believes strongly in the need to find new ways of enriching artistic experiences for audiences. A native of Topeka, Kansas, in his childhood Teeter studied seriously as a cellist and ballet dancer and dreamed of being able to pursue both in an artistic career. 

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For his undergraduate studies Teeter undertook a dual-degree program at the Cleveland Institute of Music and Case Western Reserve University studying cello performance and psychology, respectively. At CIM he performed regularly with the CIM Orchestra, Monarch Piano Trio, and Vltava Quartet. Particularly passionate about contemporary music, Teeter was a longtime member of the New Music Ensemble and performed works by Pierre Boulez, Elliot Carter, George Tsontakis, Stephen Stucky, Luciano Berio, and Stephen Hartke, among others. His major teachers include Melissa Kraut, Lawrence Figg, and Steven Elisha. His junior year Teeter was awarded the prestigious Theodore Presser Scholarship for musical and academic excellence and his senior year the Darius Milhaud and Eugene Kaplow awards for uncommon creativity. At Case Western Teeter volunteered in several psychology research laboratories, was inducted into the Phi Beta Kappa honors society, and graduated summa cum laude, also earning a minor in dance.

 

During the end of his time as an undergraduate he began experimenting with creative projects combining music and dance performance. Several of these utilized a video of Teeter dancing his own choreography while he performed the music live. One project, titled Visions of Bach, incorporated modern movement derived from Baroque dance combined with Bach's G Major Unaccompanied Cello Suite. In these projects he saw a potential to deepen the connection between music and dance, composition and choreography. 

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Upon graduating  Teeter stayed in Cleveland to pursue Masters degrees at CIM and Case Western with focuses in cello performance and contemporary dance. He continued to develop new artistic projects and for his MA Thesis at Case Western created a fugue for dance, set to two movements from Bach's Art of the Fugue. Titled Chasing Unison, the work explored the connection of four dancers to the four musical lines and how the various compositional techniques might be represented visually in the choreography. 

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At this time, Teeter also discovered the academic field of choreomusicology - the study of the relationship between music and dance. Drawn to this research, in 2020 Teeter began a PhD program in Dance History and Analysis at the University of Roehampton in London, England. His dissertation project involves studying modern dance works set to music by J.S. Bach and their various choreomusical relationships.

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Teeter performs regularly as a cellist and dancer and continues to develop choreography and other artistic projects. He plays a 1750 English cello made by Joseph Hill. In his spare time, he enjoys hiking, going to the movies, and cheering for Kansas sports teams.