Academic Degrees:

• B.M., University of Colorado - Boulder
• M.M., Eastman School of Music
• Postgraduate Performance Diploma and L.R.A.M. Teaching Certification, Royal Academy of Music - London
• D.M.A., University of Washington

Biography:

Dr. Amy Grinsteiner is an Associate Professor in the joint College of Saint Benedict and Saint John’s University Department of Music in Minnesota, teaching studio piano, class piano, collaborative piano, piano pedagogy, Rock and Roll History and Music through History .

Born and raised in Montana, she holds a Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the University of Washington, Diploma of Postgraduate Performance and L.R.A.M. Teaching Certificate from the Royal Academy of Music in London, a Master of Music Degree in Piano Performance from the Eastman School of Music, and Bachelor of Music Degree in Piano Performance from the University of Colorado, Boulder. At the University of Washington, Dr. Grinsteiner studied with Dr. Robin McCabe. Her other primary teachers include Dennis Alexander, Angela Cheng, Dr. Nelita True, Christopher Elton, and additional studies with Paul Lewis.

Dr. Grinsteiner enjoys a varied performance schedule that includes solo recitals, concerto performances, chamber music recitals, choral accompanying work, and choral conducting. Upcoming performances include a solo recital at Saint John's University and Seattle and chamber performances throughout the year with CSB/SJU faculty on faculty recitals as well as on Pastiche, a biannual music department faculty chamber concert. A proponent of new music, Amy has worked with numerous composers including Rome Prize winner Huck Hodge and composition faculty from Sichuan University in Chengdu. Some of her notable collaborations include those with members of the Seattle Symphony and Tacoma Symphony, as well as faculty from many universities and colleges including the University of Washington, College of Saint Benedict and Saint John’s University, Tacoma College, Pacific Lutheran University, and the University of Puget Sound. Passionate about choral conducting, Amy has served as the Choral Director for college choirs at Pierce College and Tacoma College in Washington, and for high school choirs at the Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp in Michigan. Dr. Grinsteiner also serves as a Faculty Program Coordinator and Teaching Faculty (Session 2) at the Seattle Piano Institute, a summer program for aspiring young classical pianists at the U. of Washington, Seattle. Proven to be a very successful summer program, SPI will enter its 13th season in 2023. Her interest in young performers has also made her an active and popular adjudicator for numerous festivals and competitions throughout the Pacific Northwest and Midwest.

As a recipient of both the Rotary Ambassadorial Scholar Award and the P.E.O. National Scholar Award, Amy has traveled extensively building awareness and appreciation for the arts. Through her creation of the Goldberg Project, she found a meaningful way to bring elementary age students into the concert hall using abstract art lessons, regular classroom instruction, and a shared final performance. Her work with this project is cited in “The Musically Vibrant Classroom: Music for Children and Their Teachers” by Dr. Patricia Shehan Campbell and Dr. Carol Scott-Kassner (2012). She is currently working on a book, “Piano Techniques for the Choral Educator,” combining her interests in piano, choir, and education, and focusing on building the piano skills needed for future choral conductors in the choral classroom, such as part extraction, clef reading, and open score reading. Passionate about audience building, Dr. Grinsteiner traveled to London in 2010 on a student-faculty Wang Center Grant from Pacific Lutheran University. The research grant project, “Music as a hub in the London community,” involved studying audience development and the impact of community outreach work. Amy has received three Central Minnesota Arts Board Grants to start and build, in collaboration with her late colleague Dr. Edward Turley, the Dennis Alexander Piano Festival and Competition in Minnesota. A former faculty member at Tacoma College, Pacific Lutheran University, and Pierce College, Amy is in her twelfth  year on the faculty of CSB/SJU. She was the recipient of the Sister Mary Grell Teacher of Distinction Award in 2017 and currently serves as the chair of the music department.

Solo recital in Escher Auditorium

“Dark Waves” by John Luther Adams, performance with Edward Turley

“What Makes You Beautiful” by One Direction, arr. Piano Guys, performance with Susan Cogdill, Jeff Engholm, Dave Fremo, Andre Heywood

“Rhapsody in Blue” by Gershwin, performance with the CSB/SJU Orchestra

National Conference on Keyboard Pedagogy, 2015. Dennis Alexander, recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award, Amy, and colleagues and former students of Dennis: Scott Billadeau and Jason Derlatka.