Tracy Cowden: piano, vocal coach

Tracy Cowden joined the Department of Music faculty at Virginia Tech as Assistant Professor of Piano and Vocal Coach in 2004. She received the D.M.A. and M.M. degrees in Piano Accompanying and Chamber Music from the Eastman School of Music, and a B.M. degree in Piano Performance from Western Michigan University.

As a collaborative pianist, Tracy has performed with the Cavani Quartet, the Audubon Quartet, and the Marble Cliff Chamber Players, and in recitals with principal musicians from the Montreal, Vancouver, Boston, and Columbus symphony orchestras. She has been featured as a concerto soloist with the Central Ohio Symphony Orchestra, the Chamber Orchestra of Southwest Virginia, the Ohio Wesleyan University Chamber Orchestra, and the Virginia Tech Symphonic Wind Ensemble.

Tracy has presented lectures on the art of collaborative piano in Ohio, Michigan, and Virginia, and she was selected to present at the College Music Society National Conference in Québec City and at the Music Teachers National Association National Conferences in Seattle, Washington (2005) and Austin, Texas (2006).

In collaboration with Dr. Nancy Gamso from Ohio Wesleyan University, Tracy released a CD entitled “With Blackwood and Silver,” which features modern duo repertoire for flute with piano and clarinet with piano. She also can be heard with the Eastman Wind Ensemble in its 50th anniversary recording, released in 2002.

Tracy has previously served as a faculty member at Ohio Wesleyan University, and as an adjunct faculty member at Kalamazoo College and Hope College in western Michigan. Her principal teachers have included Jean Barr, Douglas Humpherys, Fernando Laires, Phyllis Rappeport, and Marilyn Sluka.