Lise Keiter

Oberlin College and Conservatory of Music; MM, DM, Indiana University

Pianist Lise Keiterhas performed throughout the U.S. and in Europe, and she is very active as a solo recitalist, collaborative artist, and soloist with orchestra.   Her European appearances include recitals with France’s International Roussel Festival, as well as with the Internationale Academie de Musique in Gargenville, France.  She has recently appeared as a concerto soloist with orchestras in Indiana, Virginia, and North Carolina, and her latest solo and chamber music performance engagements have taken her to New York City, North Carolina, Maryland, Wisconsin, Idaho, West Virginia, Illinois, South Carolina, and throughout Virginia, including recent performances with the Heifetz Institute and with the Shenandoah Valley Bach Festival.

Dr. Keiter is on the faculty at Mary Baldwin University, where she also serves as Music Department Chair.  Her work at Mary Baldwin led her to develop an interest in the music of female composers, and in 2005, she developed an all-female composers program of solo piano works, in honor of the bicentenary year of pianist and composer Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel (1805-1847). In February 2014, she was the featured soloist with the Waynesboro Symphony, performing Florence B. Price’s recently-reconstructed Concerto in One Movement.  In the fall of 2019, she will perform Clara Schumann’s Piano Concerto in A Minor with the Waynesboro Symphony.  

Frequently in demand as a lecturer, adjudicator, and masterclass clinician, Dr. Keiter is active in many organizations. She is the State MTNA (Music Teachers National Association) Competitions Chair for Virginia and also serves as Scholarship Chair for the Thursday Morning Music Club in Staunton.  She is also involved with the College Music Society (CMS) and is a Past-President of the Mid-Atlantic Chapter of CMS.  She is also a member of the Charlottesville Music Teachers’ Association.  She has given guest lectures and presentations on a wide variety of topics, including the music of female composers, memorization techniques, the works of Charles Griffes, composer and pianist Florence B. Price, composer William Grant Still, and “How to prepare to be a successful music major in college.”

Dr. Keiter is committed to furthering the education of young musicians and maintains a studio of high school students.  Her students include numerous competition winners, and many have been accepted into prestigious music programs at colleges, conservatories, and graduate programs across the U.S. and in Europe. 

Originally from Charleston, Illinois, she has a Bachelor of Music degree from the Oberlin Conservatory, where she received several top prizes, and she completed a Master’s Degree and the Doctorate of Music at Indiana University, where she also received the Award for Outstanding Teaching.   Her teachers have included Leonard Hokanson, Gyorgy Sebok, Robert McDonald, Emile Nauomoff, and Evelyn Brancart.