Julie Ann Ballard has a Doctor of Musical Arts degree in music education from the University of Southern California, Los Angeles, and a Master of Music degree in piano performance with an emphasis in piano pedagogy. Dr. Ballard is a pianist, teacher, conductor, composer and researcher with numerous awards and honors. She has presented her research at the National Conference on Keyboard Pedagogy (2011, 2013, 2015, 2021, and 2023) and is published in the NCKP Conference Proceedings for those years, CAPMT Connect (Spring-Summer 2017) and Clavier Companion (March/April 2018).

Her music is published by The FJH Music Company Inc., with music listed on the National Federation of Music Clubs Festivals Bulletin. Dr. Ballard was Chair over the Music Teachers National Association (MTNA) Performance and Composition Competitions in California from 2016 to 2019 and currently serves on the California Association of Professional Music Teachers (CAPMT) Executive Board as VP of Competitions since 2019. She is an acclaimed performer and runs a distinguished piano studio with award-winning students in Orange County, CA.