About Ellen

Pianist Ellen McQuilkin is a nationally certified teacher of music with 30 years experience as a studio teacher. She is a member of Oregon Music Teacher’s Association and Music Teachers National Association, and is past president of OMTA Eugene District. She began her formal piano studies at the Instituto de Bellas Artes in Toluca, México, and later earned her B.A., magna cum laude in Piano Performance from California State University, Chico, under the guidance of Dr. Robert Bowman. At the University of Oregon, she earned a M.A. in Spanish while simultaneously pursuing graduate studies in the School of Music, where her principal teacher was Dr. Dean Kramer.

Ellen’s students have demonstrated their success in OMTA recitals and the organization’s syllabus program, and a number of her advanced students have pursued advanced study in music at post-secondary institutions including the University of Oregon, Portland State University, Lawrence University and California Institute of the Arts. Ellen’s experience and commitment is widely recognized by teachers in Oregon, and she serves as an adjudicator for syllabus and the OMTA Junior Bach Festival.

Ellen is continues to be very active as a musician, writer and educator. In 2006 she gave the premiere performance of Legacies: A Fantasy Suite on American Folk Songs by her husband, composer Terry McQuilkin at the Oregon State Music Teacher’s Conference. She has also performed at the FOUR BY FOUR piano series in Portland, the Eugene Symphony Guild Christmas Walk, the Eugene Jazz Station and many other venues. In 2007 she authored new music reviews for the professional journal, The California Music Teacher.

Ellen continues to broaden her professional knowledge by attending conferences and workshops on music pedagogy and performance. She has taken courses in the Suzuki method and Dalcroze Eurythmics, and has received training in techniques that promote healthy body movement in musicians, including the Alexander Technique and the Taubmann approaches.

Ellen has balanced her training as a classical piano with jazz piano studies, playing folk music on the guitar and performing the traditional Shona music of Zimbabwe with the marimba band Shamwari. In addition to performing and teaching, she also works as a freelance translator (English/Spanish), primarily of literary works, arts related documents and educational materials.