Profile

• Ph.D. in Music Education, Emphasis in Piano Pedagogy, University of Oklahoma, 2008
• M.M. in Performance and Piano Pedagogy, University of Oklahoma, 2005
• M.B.A. West Virginia University, 1994
• B.M. in Piano Performance, Ball State University, 1986

Dr. Teresa Sumpter is currently the Coordinator of Keyboard Studies at Mars Hill University where she teaches applied piano, group piano, piano literature, piano pedagogy, and music history.  She holds a Ph.D. in Music Education with an emphasis in Piano Pedagogy and a Master of Music degree in Piano Performance and Pedagogy from the University of Oklahoma where she studied with Jane Magrath and Edward Gates. Her other piano teachers include Delia Calapai, student of Artur Schnabel, and Michel Bourgeot.   She also holds a Master of Business Administration degree from West Virginia University and has served as Executive Director for two regional orchestras: Yakima Symphony Orchestra (WA) and Sioux City Symphony Orchestra (IA).

Dr. Sumpter has performed, adjudicated, and presented throughout the country.  Performances include recitals on the Pianoforte Series in Asheville, NC, Carson-Newman University, Winthrop University, and Friends of Music Concert Series at Montreat College (NC).  She has served as clinician for the North Carolina Music Teachers Association (NCMTA) Piano Contest Repertoire Workshops and has been a frequent adjudicator for contests and festivals in North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee.  She has presented “The Sinfonias of Johann Sebastian Bach: Teaching and Performing these Miniature Masterpieces” at the NCMTA State Conference and “The Piano Studio as a Creative Community” at the Charlotte Piano Teachers Forum, Appalachian Music Teachers Association, and the Raleigh Piano Teachers Association. She has served as a reporter for the GP3 Conference (Group Piano and Piano Pedagogy) and has been published in The Piano Pedagogy Forum.

Since 2017, Dr. Sumpter has served as a Visiting Evaluator for the National Association of Schools of Music (NASM), the accrediting body for departments and schools of music throughout the world.  She presented “Financial Management for the New Music Executive” at the NASM Annual Meeting in 2019.

Her 2019 album “Musical Moments” includes the complete Moments Musicaux by Franz Schubert, Fantasy in F-sharp minor by Felix Mendelssohn, and the World Premiere of Sonata No. 4 for Piano by Michael Young.

Listen to Dr. Sumpter perform Claude Debussy’s Reflets dans l’eau from Images, Book I: