Don Ester serves as the Praise and Worship Leader at First Presbyterian. He is a member of the Ball State University School of Music faculty, serving as Professor and Area Coordinator of Music Education. He and his wife, Carol, grew up together in Kirkland, Illinois. A 1980 graduate of Illinois Wesleyan University, he holds a Master of Music degree from Southern Methodist University

and a Ph.D. from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Don has taught in the public schools and has served as a full-time church musician in Bloomington, Illinois.