• Dr. Rosilee Walker - Director of Keyboard Activities, Theory, Piano

Dr. Rosilee Walker - Director of Keyboard Activities, Theory, Piano

Rosilee Walker, classical pianist, is the Artist-in-Residence and Director of Keyboard Activities at the University of Arkansas-Fort Smith. She came to UA Fort Smith in 1990 after teaching in Kansas City. Walker holds a Bachelor of Music degree from Baylor University, a Master of Music degree and also a Doctor of Musical Arts degree in piano performance from the University of Missouri-Kansas City Conservatory of Music. While at Baylor, she was the recipient of the Van Cliburn Piano Scholarship and the Alpha Chi National Music Scholarship for graduate study. At UMKC she was awarded a piano teaching assistantship.

Walker's principal teachers include internationally known pianists Richard Cass, Susan Starr, and Lillian Kallir. She has also collaborated with jazz pianist Tony Caramia, and consulted with pianist and leading novely authority Alex Hassan.

As a solo artist, Walker performs extensively throughout Arkansas as a member of the Arts on Tour Program, sponsored by the Arkansas Arts Coucil, and plays nationally as a touring member for the Heartland Arts Fund. She has appeared as recitalist at the Arkansas Governor's Mansion, guest pianist at the White House, and was nominated for a performance at the Kennedy Center. In the past five years, her touring has included some 50 concerts throughout the United States at colleges, universities, and performing arts centers.

A unique feature of Dr. Walker's concerts, is the combination of the weight and substance of standard repertory with the froth and effervescence of music known as Piano Novelty, a 1920s American music form that blends syncopation with classical technique. Her published articles on the Piano Novelty can be seen in Piano Today. She is also the editor of a collection of Lothar Perl novelties printed by Schott Publications. Walker has been a program presenter of novelty music for several state music conventions as well as the Music Teacher's National Convention.

Dr. Walker is a member of the Music Teacher's National Association, as well as the Arkansas Chapter of MTNA. She recently joined the faculty of Masterworks International Summer Music Festival. Walker currently teaches all levels of music theory, including form and analysis, and has served on review boards for new music theory textbooks. She is currently recording a CD to accompany the 6th edition of Music for Analysis published by Oxford University Press. She is active as an adjudicator and lecturer, and gives numerous master classes yearly throughout the country. Rosilee can be heard on her CD Live at Eastman recorded in the famous Kilbourn Hall at the Eastman School of Music in New York, as well as her CD Cool Classics which is a collection of classical masterpieces recorded live.