About
Posted on 02/08/2009 06:28 pm by ellenelder
Dr. Ellen Elder
1116 Poplar Road
Hattiesburg, MS 39401
Dr. Ellen Price Elder is Assistant Professor of Piano at the Winters School of Music at William Carey University in Hattiesburg, MS. She teaches applied and class piano and related courses in piano literature and pedagogy, and directs the Piano Ensemble.
She holds the D.M.A. in Piano Pedagogy and Performance and the M.M. in Piano Performance and Literature from the University of Michigan. She received her B.M. in Piano Performance from the University of Southern Mississippi. She has served on the faculties at the University of Michigan, the University of Michigan-Dearborn, Eastern Michigan University, and Schoolcraft College.
Dr. Elder is the winner of many competitions and awards. In 2009, she was selected to receive the HEADWAE award (Higher Education Appreciation Day/Working for Academic Excellence) established in 1988 by the Mississippi Legislature to honor faculty who have contributed to the promotion of academic excellence at each of the state’s public and private institutions.
She was one of thirty-seven pianists chosen to compete in the 2006 Johann Sebastian Bach International Competition in Leipzig, Germany (one of three chosen from the U.S.). Other honors include first place in the Ann Arbor Society for the Musical Arts Competition and the Lansing Matinee Musicale Competition, and second-place in the Memphis International Beethoven Sonata Competition. She was the recipient of the MTNA Star Award, as well as the Joanne A. Smith Piano Pedagogy Award for class piano teaching (for two consecutive years).
She has appeared as soloist with the Mississippi Symphony Orchestra, Mississippi Symphony Chamber Orchestra, University of Southern Mississippi Symphony Orchestra, Hattiesburg City Band, and the University of Michigan Philharmonia Orchestra.
In addition to her college teaching, Dr. Elder also serves as Director of the Carey Institute of Fine Arts. She has established and taught the first piano group classes offered for children and adults through the Institute.
Dr. Elder is the Vice-President for Pre-College Performances through the Mississippi Music Teachers Association. She is married to Brian Keith Elder, senior software engineer of Quicken Loans, Inc., and is the daughter of Sue Boyd Price and the late Herbert P. Price of Hattiesburg.