Meisha Whitlock is a pianist acclaimed by critics for her “calm restraint” and “tempestuous and stormy” artistry (The Preface, Indiana University). Her virtuosity has led to performances across the US and abroad including Italy, Australia, Africa, and London. As an emerging artist, she won the Paul W. Hagan Concerto Competition and completed a residency as a Rotary Ambassadorial Scholar at the University of Sydney Conservatorium of Music in Australia. Her dedication to music has taken her around the world as the state’s National Education Association Global Learning Fellow in Peru and a Fund for Teachers Fellow in Ghana. As a Fulbright Scholar, she was recently given the opportunity to teach and present a lecture piano recital in Morocco.

An accomplished pedagogue, Whitlock has presented her research and instructional methodology at national and regional conferences including those of the National Conference on Keyboard Pedagogy, College Music Society, Music Teachers National Association (MTNA), and Music Educators National Conference (MENC). With an active schedule as clinician, adjudicator, and soloist throughout the nation and abroad, her articles have been published in the Music Educators Journal and the Southern Music Education Journal.

Her first of a series of albums of contemporary piano duo works entitled Piano Duo Project was released by Albany Records of New York and featured on the cover of Fanfare Magazine to rave reviews: “There is sensitivity, rhythmic incisiveness, and palpable joy…I cannot imagine them played better than this (Fanfare).” Dr. Whitlock earned the Doctor of Musical Arts and Master of Music degrees from the University of South Carolina, and the Bachelor of Music degree from Indiana State University in Piano Performance.

Honors and Awards

• Fulbright Scholar (Morocco, Africa), 2024
• Fund For Teachers Grant Recipient (Ghana, Africa) 2023
• National Education Association Global Learning Fellow (Peru and Chile, South America), 2022
• Arts in Basic Curriculum Grant Chair (Recipient of over $120,000), 2015-2024
• Distinguished Arts Program Grant Co-Chair (Recipient of over $200,000), 2015-2024

Education

• DMA, University of South Carolina
• Graduate Performance Diploma, University of Sydney - Conservatorium of Music (Australia)
• MM and MEd, University of South Carolina
• BM, Indiana State University