Tanya Gille Appointed Director of UA School of Music

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – Pianist and university administrator Tanya L. Gille has been appointed director of the School of Music at The University of Alabama.

Dr. Gille comes to the School, which is in UA’s College of Arts and Sciences, from The University of Colorado at Boulder where she taught for 14 years. While at the University of Colorado, she served as associate dean of the College of Music and also taught piano and piano pedagogy.

“Dr. Gille comes to The University of Alabama with significant administrative experience at a major school of music as well as with commendable work as a musician and teacher,” said Dr. Robert Olin, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences. “She understands that an excellent school of music must support pedagogical rigor, unconstrained creative expression, and exacting performance standards in its students and faculty.

“This is the kind of sensibility that will serve our School of Music well as she works to continue and advance its strong national reputation. We are enthusiastic about Dr. Gille joining our music faculty and administrative staff,” said Olin.

“I was greatly impressed by the accomplishments of the music faculty and their commitment to move the school forward,” said Gille.

A frequent performer of contemporary music, Gille has played most of the chamber music of Pulitzer Prize winning musician George Crumb, teaching seminars with the composer in this country, and abroad, and performing his works in tours of Eastern Europe.

This has included recitals for the Prague Spring International Music Festival and the European Month of Culture in Ljubljana, Slovenija. Her recordings include “New Music for Saxophone and Piano,” on compact disk with saxophonist Tom Myer, and published by Albany Records. Her performances have been featured on National Public Radio and European radio broadcasts.

The teacher of many prize-winning piano students, Gille has been an active clinician, adjudicator and panelist for the Music Teachers National Association, the National Piano Pedagogy Conference and numerous state conferences. She was recently convention artist for the Wyoming Music Teachers Association.

Gille has degrees in piano performance including a doctor of musical arts degree from Eastman School of Music, a master of music degree with highest distinction and a bachelor of music degree with high distinction from Indiana University, where she studied with renowned Cuban pianist Jorge Bolet. In researching piano technique, she has worked extensively with such well-known musicians as Barbara Lister-Sink and John Bloomfield, assistant to noted pianist Dorothy Taubman.

Prior to joining the University of Colorado in 1989, Gille was a faculty member at Otterbein College, Eastern Kentucky University and Texas Wesleyan University, where she also served as chair of music.

The UA School of Music is the state’s most comprehensive undergraduate and graduate music school and has 300 students and 36 faculty. The College of Arts and Sciences is UA’s largest division with more than 25 departments and programs, 6,000 students, and 350 faculty members.