Nancy Parker, Ph.D.

Dr. Nancy Parker holds a Ph.D. in music from the University of Minnesota. Her undergraduate studies were at Bethel University where she earned a degree in Music Education with an emphasis in piano performance. Additional studies were in piano performance at California State University, Fullerton, University of Southern California, and Portland State University, Oregon, where she completed a Masters degree in Music Education. Nancy is a member of the American Choral Directors Association, National Association for Music Education, and the Minnesota Music Educators Association.

Dr. Parker teaches Choral and General Music Methods at the University of Northwestern and supervises student teachers at the elementary and secondary levels. She also teaches courses at the Concordia University St Paul.
Dr. Parker serves as the Director of the Preparatory Program and Artistic Director of Cantabile Girls’ Choir at St Cloud State University (SCSU). She is also the instructor for “Teaching Music in the K-8 Classroom,” a class that introduces educators to arts integration in the elementary classroom.

As Director of the Prep Program, Dr. Parker is responsible for overseeing private music lessons available to all ages in the local community and the Cantabile Girls’ Choir, an auditioned choral experience for girls in grades 4–9. As Artistic Director of Cantabile, Dr. Parker has the opportunity to share her passion for music with young girls as they discover the joy of singing with others in a choral setting.

Dr. Parker was the Director of the Women’s Chorale at Bethel University, St Paul for nine years. In 2009, the Women’s Chorale was selected to perform at the Minnesota Music Educators Midwinter In-Service Clinic held at the Minneapolis Convention Center. The Chorale toured annually and participated in Bethel’s annual Festival of Christmas which is attended every year by an audience of over 6,000.

Dr. Parker taught 6th through 12th grade music for ten years while living in Portland, Oregon. Her classroom experiences included teaching choral music, general music, music appreciation & theory and instrumental music. Her choirs placed first at state festivals in both performance and sight-singing competitions. She was a participating conductor with MidAmerican Productions in New York City, involving her choral groups in Carnegie Hall Performances of Mozart’s Requiem and Handel’s Messiah. Dr. Parker served as a choral clinician throughout the state of Oregon.

Professional Accomplishments

Publications

• “MEJ and World War II: A Review of Music Educators Journal 1940-42” Music Educators Journal, December 2008.
• “Music at Bethel: 1905-1950,” Interval, Journal of the Minnesota Music Educators Association, winter 2007.