Title: Professor
Company: Lincoln University
Location: Dresher, Pennsylvania, United States
Charles Pettaway, full professor at Lincoln University, has been recognized by Marquis Who’s Who Top Educators for dedication, achievements, and leadership in academia.
With more than 30 years of professional experience, Mr. Pettaway has been a full professor of music at Lincoln University since 2012. Prior to obtaining his current role, he was an associate and assistant professor with the school and earlier in his career, he was a piano instructor in 1988. Mr. Pettaway began his career as a student at Philadelphia Musical Academy, where he obtained a Bachelor of Music, cum laude, in 1971. He continued his studies with Temple University, earning a Master of Music, cum laude, in 1976.
Mr. Pettaway started playing piano when he was six years old. His family is musically inclined as his grandmother was a church organist and his aunt was a piano teacher. His aunt Ida lived across the street from Mr. Pettaway’s family and was his first piano teacher. When he was 14, he went to the Philadelphia Music Academy on a full scholarship where he studied with Clemente C. Patrillo, his mentor, who taught him technique and musicality. Playing the piano became a passion that Mr. Pettaway has maintained. A respected voice in his areas of interest, Mr. Pettaway has been an active leader in his community. He is the former chair of visual and performing arts at Lincoln Memorial University, director of the Sanctuary and Fellowship Choirs at Pinn Memorial Baptist Church, music director at Sayers United Methodist Church, and a commonwealth speaker for the Pennsylvania Humanities Council.
Mr. Pettaway has won awards such as first prize with the Bartok-Kabalevsky-Prokofiev International Piano Competition. He has his photo and biography as a part of the permenant display at the Black Musicians in the United States exhibit located at Dusable Museum in Chicago, performed on the radio and on television, and has performed at The Kennedy Center, Symphony Hall and The Academy of Music in Philadelphia. Mr. Pettaway has traveled vastly and and lectured on Joseph Bologna Chevalier de Saint George which is one of his crowning achievements as he was able to share his knowledge of him with many different people from many different backgrounds. Mr. Pettaway sees himself continuing his work and would like to one day retire in Florida but until then, he will continue to play and enjoy his passion for piano.
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