Lise Keiter

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

Pianist Lise Keiter has performed throughout the U.S. and in Europe, and she is 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 and Director of the Broman Concert Series and the Sunday Recital Series.   She has long been a champion for music composed by women and by people of color, frequently showcasing these works in her performances and teaching.  In February 2014, she was the featured soloist with the Waynesboro Symphony, performing Florence B. Price’s recently-reconstructed Concerto in One Movement.  She also joined the Waynesboro Symphony in earlier seasons as the soloist for performances of Mozart’s Piano Concerto in D Minor, Grieg’s Piano Concerto in A Minor,and Beethoven’s “Emperor” Concerto; and in 2019, she performed Clara Schumann’s Concerto in A Minor with the WSO, in honor of the 200th birth year of Clara Schumann (1819-1896).  A frequent collaborator, she has performed with artists such as violinist Elmar Oliveira, cellist Ralph Kirshbaum, clarinetists Lynda Dembowski and Eric Mandat, oboist Joseph Robinson, and the Cypress String Quartet.

In demand as a lecturer, adjudicator, and masterclass clinician, Dr. Keiter has given guest lectures and presentations at numerous conferences, universities, and music teachers’ organizations across the United States.  She has presented on a wide variety of topics, such as the Music of Female Composers, Memorization Techniques, composer/pianist Florence B. Price, and “How to prepare to be a successful Music Major in College.”  She is active in many organizations, and for many years has served as the State MTNA (Music Teachers National Association) Competitions Chair for Virginia.  She is also the Scholarship Chair for the Thursday Morning Music Club in Staunton, she is a past-president of the Mid-Atlantic Chapter of the College Music Society (CMS), and she continues to be involved with CMS. 

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.