Praised by the Baltimore Sun for her “achingly sweet touch at the keyboard,” American pianist, Elizabeth Morgan, brings history and performance alive in her conversational recitals, writing, lectures, and teaching. A native of San Francisco, she received her undergraduate and master’s degrees in piano performance at The Juilliard School, before completing a PhD in music history at the University of California, Los Angeles, where her advisor was Susan McClary. Currently Assistant Professor of Music History and Piano Performance at Saint Joseph’s University in Philadelphia, she maintains a busy performance schedule.
Ms. Morgan frequently gives conversational recitals, where she introduces musical works with commentary from the keyboard, often creating programs around a single theme or idea. She is best known for a conversational recital program of musical works related to Jane Austen, which she has performed throughout the United States and at venues around England, including the Jane Austen Memorial Archive and the Cobbe Collection.
Ms. Morgan has performed as soloist in many major American venues, including Alice Tully Hall, Merkin Hall, Society Hall, the Kosciuszko Foundation, the New York Library for the Performing Arts, Herbst Theatre (San Francisco), and the Clark Library (Los Angeles). She has appeared as soloist with orchestras on both coasts and has performed with the Mark Morris Dance Company. She has also performed at festivals including Tanglewood, where she was a Tanglewood Music Center fellow, Amelia Island, Festival of the Hamptons, Pianofest, Aspen, Bowdoin, and Rock Hotel International Pianofest. She has performed on National Public Television, where she was profiled as part of an American Masters documentary, on National German Radio, and on local radio stations throughout the US.
Ms. Morgan’s research and writing focus on music of the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, particularly works for the keyboard and for small ensembles. She is especially interested in embodiment, virtuosity, music and gender, and performance studies. Her work has been recognized with awards from the American Council of Learned Societies, the UCLA Center for the Study of Women, and the UCLA Center for Seventeenth- and Eighteenth-Century Studies. Her writing is forthcoming from Ashgate Publishing and in 19th-Century Music.
In addition to studying and performing music and teaching at St. Joe’s, Ms. Morgan is an avid cook, hiker, and runner. She lives in Nether Providence, PA, with her husband, Kevin, and their wire fox terrier, Moose.
