Title: Professor Emerita of Music, University of Arizona, Tucson
Company: 24 Karat® Music Discovery
Location: Ashland, Oregon, United States
Dr. Billie Raye Worthington Erlings, Professor Emerita of Music from the University of Arizona School of Music, has been recognized by Marquis Who’s Who Top Educators for dedication, achievements, and leadership in the field of music in higher education.
Dr. Erlings served the University of Arizona School of Music piano faculty as Coordinator of Class/Group Piano and Piano Pedagogy from 1974 to 1998 and was named Outstanding University Faculty of 1990. She holds Bachelor and Master of Music degrees in piano performance from her home state alma mater Louisiana State University and was one of the first women in the nation to hold the Doctor of Musical Arts degree, awarded by the University of Oregon in 1970. Her other faculty appointments were at the University of Kansas, California State at Los Angeles, Southern Oregon University, the University of Oregon and Stephen F. Austin State University in Texas.
Dr. Erlings is known internationally as a leading innovator in music study through piano, and for research in psychomotor skill acquisition, aesthetic valuing, and curriculum development in music studies for the general student. She designed the keyboard courses of the first Music Therapy degrees, initiated by the late Dr. E. Thayer Gaston and was a pioneer of televised piano instruction. She has lectured and conducted workshops throughout the United States and in Australia, Austria, Canada, China, France, Holland and South Korea. Her published piano books have introduced many highly acclaimed innovations and include Comprehensive Keyboard Skills (1975-76) and 24 Karat® Piano: Music Superlearning for Adults 3rd ed (2004). Her articles have appeared in the Piano Quarterly, Bulletin of the Council for Research in Music Education, Clavier, College Music Society Proceedings, Southwestern Musician and Televised Music Instruction (MENC 1972). Her latest publication is Dr. Erlings’ Notes: A Video Piano Course to Accompany 24 Karat® Piano, 3rd & 4th eds, © 2021. Dr. Erlings’ Marquis Biographical entry contains a selected list of her piano performance repertory.
After retiring from university careers, Dr. Erlings and her late husband Kurt Erlings moved their piano and video studio and company, 24 Karat® Music Discovery to Ashland, Oregon, an art center of the nation. She remains active as president/owner of the company, the mission of which is promoting selected innovative approaches to music study through piano with publications and presentations. She teaches students of all ages both in-person and distance-learning and has limited availability for demonstrations and workshops. She can be contacted by email: drerlingspiano@mind.net.
For more information, please visit:
RogueValleyMusic.com
Press Release
Contact Dr. Erlings:
