Photo by Rodney Nakamoto
Kay Etheridge is professionally a classical pianist, music educator, piano teacher and adjudicator who lives in San Diego, California. A noted artist with diverse interests and background, she has performed as vocalist as well as pianist with some of San Diego's finest jazz musicians. A native of Dallas, Kay began her piano studies at age seven with the distinguished teacher, Eugenia O'Reilly. During her pre-college years, she maintained an active performance schedule and was the recipient of many awards and honors in her home cities of Dallas, Texas and Phoenix, Arizona. Kay received her BM and MM degrees in piano performance from Arizona State University School of Music, where she studied piano with James Ruccolo and chamber music with Jean Barr. Subsequently, she studied piano with Tong-Il Han at the University of North Texas College of Music, where she received her DMA in piano performance.
In 1982, Point Loma Nazarene University recruited her as an assistant professor of music, and she taught there for five years. Subsequently, she coached chamber music at La Jolla High School, taught piano and music theory at the Sweetwater District School for the Creative and Performing Arts, and founded/directed "Keyboard Encounters", a group piano program for a church day-care center. In 1991, she joined the music faculty at the University of San Diego.
Kay is a former executive board member of the California Association of Professional Music Teachers (VP of Student Programs, Communiqué editor), and is currently the chair for the annual Concerto Competition of the Music Teachers Association of California-San Diego Branch.
A frequent adjudicator in the southwest region, Kay has judged for the San Diego Symphony Hot Shots Competition, the San Diego Youth Symphony Concerto Competition, the Arizona Young Artist Piano Festival in Tempe, Arizona, the Virginia Waring Piano Competition, the H.B. Goodlin Scholarship Auditions, the Musical Merit Auditions, and various competitions sponsored by MTAC and CAPMT. At the 2002 CAPMT State Convention, she joined distinguished teachers Walter Ponce and Louise Lepley for a panel presentation entitled "What Adjudicators Are Looking For".
Kay is known as a versatile musician who performs in many styles and has recorded and produced three CDs on her own record label, Equipoise Records. Of her first CD, A Return to Hymns, San Diego organist and music critic Ken Herman writes, "the more exuberant tunes Kay has decked out in their Sunday best, with brilliant fanfares and colorful harmonies. She has imbued the more intimate hymns with the reflective glow of heartfelt emotion and conviction. Anyone who loves these gems of faith will enjoy Kay's spirited, refreshing revival, not to mention her fleet keyboard technique and inviting vocal style."
Real Life features Kay's arrangements of songs written by singer-songwriter Peggy Watson. Kay sings and is joined by a stellar cast of musicians featuring solos by Peter Sprague, David Beldock and Peter Pendras on guitar, Holly Hofmann on flute, Sue Palmer and Stephen "Hoops" Snyder on piano. Peter Sprague, world-class jazz guitarist, co-produced the album, and he says "Kay Etheridge is a gutsy musician. She can tackle a page full of complicated notes and tame them into beautiful music. She can live in the detailed world of classical music and be calm amidst the storm. And then she can chameleon over to the microphone and sing earthy folk songs like she's lived that reality all of her life. She's a wonderful person and a brilliant musician". In the La Jolla Light, entertainment editor Lance Vargas wrote that Kay's "musical agility is obvious through Real Life. She gracefully glides through her various fortes and discovers a few new ones along the way."
Etheridge loves to work with other great performers. Internationally-acclaimed jazz flutist Holly Hofmann, who's also classical trained, plays on her Real Life CD. Holly says, "it was amazing that a wonderful classical pianist like Kay had such a feel for pop music."
Kay and Holly have performed together in concert at the University of San Diego, the Athenaeum Music and Arts Library in La Jolla, the First Unitarian-Universalist Church of San Diego, the Chula Vista Public Library and in Santa Maria at the Allan Hancock College where they premiered Resonations by composer Marcus Engelmann. Their programs consist of classical music with a few jazz-style compositions included. Holly has been impressed with Kay's great sense of time and her knowledge of jazz style. "She has a terrific feel for jazz playing, and I've told her she should do more improvisation."
Live In Concert is a solo piano recital that showcases her classical repertoire. She performs Mozart's Sonata in Bb Major, K.281, Beethoven's Bagatelles, Op.126, Liszt's Transcendental Etude in F Minor, and Ginastera's Sonata No.1, Op.22. Dr. Scott McBride Smith, President and CEO of International Institute for Young Musicians says "I enjoyed the recording very much. Every phrase was beautifully shaped, full of life and contrast. Kay Etheridge is an outstanding artist."
Kay is currently Visiting Professor of Music and Co-Coordinator of the Liberal Studies program at the University of San Diego. She teaches Comprehensive Musicianship for Educators, Introduction to Jazz, The Bebop Era, Introduction to Music, and Class and Private Piano lessons. She has also taught Women In Music and Philosophy of Music Education courses.
In addition to her university responsibilities, Kay maintains a piano performance studio where she teaches pre-college students. Over the years, many of her piano students have won awards as well as scholarships to major music schools.
A sampling of past performances:
Kay Etheridge, piano, and Holly Hofmann, flute
Works by Bach, Schubert, Liszt, Engelmann, Bolling and Arlen
Athenaeum Music and Arts Library: Mini-Concerts at Noon, Fall 2004
Kay Etheridge with guest singer/songwriter, Peggy Watson
Sisters of Song: A Tribute to Women Songwriters
Book Works/Pannikin in Del Mar, Summer 2004
Gustavo Aguilar DMA Percussion Recital at UCSD Mandeville Recital Hall
Kay Etheridge and Christopher Adler, pianists, Steven Schick and Gustavo Aguilar, percussionists
featured Bartok: Sonata for Two Pianos and Percussion, Spring 2004
Kay Etheridge and Christopher Adler, pianists, with Steven Schick and Gustavo Aguilar, percussionists
University of San Diego : Music of the 20th and 21st Centuries
featured work: Bartok: Sonata for Two Pianos and Percussion, Spring 2004
Kay Etheridge and Christopher Adler, pianists
A recital of piano solos and piano duets
San Diego Public Library Concert, Spring 2004
Kay Etheridge and Holly Hofmann
World premiere of Resonations by composer Marcus Engelmann
Allan Hancock College, Santa Maria, CA, Spring 2004
Kay Etheridge and Holly Hofmann
An Evening of Classical and Jazz for Flute and Piano
First Unitarian-Universalist Church of San Diego, Fall 2003
Kay Etheridge with guest singer/songwriter, Peggy Watson
Sisters of Song: A Tribute to Women Songwriters
Book Works/Pannikin in Del Mar, Summer 2003
Kay Etheridge and Christopher Adler, pianists
Stravinsky's Rite of Spring for piano, four hands
University of San Diego, Shiley Theatre, Spring 2003
Holly Hofmann, flute, and Kay Etheridge, piano, with
Rob Thorsen, bass, and Kevin Koch, drums
Works by Poulenc, Lasala, R.Schumann, Bolling
University of San Diego-Shiley Theatre, Fall 2002
Chris Hassett and Kay Etheridge: Concert for a Summer Evening: Broadway, Pop and Blues
Dizzy's Jazz Club, Summer 2002
Kay Etheridge with guest singer/songwriter, Peggy Watson
Sisters of Song: A Tribute to Women Songwriters
Book Works/Pannikin in Del Mar, Summer 2002
David Ryther, DMA Violin Recital at UCSD Mandeville Recital Hall
(Brahms: Piano Trio in C Major, with Kay Etheridge, pianist, and William Skeen, cellist)
Spring 2002
Kay Etheridge and Friends in Concert with Peter Sprague, William Skeen, David Ryther and Jay Easton.
Works by Poulenc, Schulze, Brahms, Sprague
San Dieguito United Methodist Church, Spring 2002
Kay Etheridge and Friends in Concert with Peter Sprague, William Skeen, David Ryther, and Jay Easton
Works by Poulenc, Schulze, Brahms, Sprague
University of San Diego, Spring 2002
San Diego Public Library Music Series: Chamber Music Recital
with Janelle Rollinson, mezzo-soprano, and Jay Easton, clarinet/baritone saxophone
Works by Bizet, Brahms, de Falla, Meyerbeer, Poulenc, J.Strauss
Fall 2001
The Gluck Chamber Music Series (UCSD)
with Jay Easton, clarinet and saxophones
Works by Brahms, Vaughan-Williams, Poulenc
Scripps Clinic and Research Foundation, Green Hospital Lobby
Fall 2001
Real Life CD Release Concert with Kay Etheridge, Peter Sprague, Holly Hofmann, Sue Palmer, Lisa Lemay, Ken Dow and Duncan Moore.
Guest vocalists, Chris Hassett and Peggy Watson.
Dizzy's Jazz Club
Fall 2001
Kay Etheridge with guest singer/songwriter, Lisa Sanders
Sisters of Song: A Tribute to Women Songwriters
Book Works/Pannikin in Del Mar
Summer 2001
Benefit Concert: Santana High School Memorial Fund
Music by Kay Etheridge, Chris Hassett, Sue Palmer, Alan Lechusza, Ken Dow, and Jeff Berkeley
First Unitarian-Universalist Church of San Diego
Spring 2001
Faculty Solo Piano Recital
Works by Mozart, Beethoven, Liszt, Ginastera, Cage
University of San Diego
Fall 2000
Kay Etheridge with guests Rolly Fanton and Lisa Sanders
Sisters of Song: A Tribute to Women Songwriters
Book Works/Pannikin in Del Mar
Summer 2000
Music For Two Pianos: Kay Etheridge and Karen Follingstad, pianists
Works by Mozart and Rachmaninoff
University of San Diego
Spring 2000
A Nostalgic Touch of Rhythm 'n Blues: Angelic Willis, Kay Etheridge and Peter Pendras.
Twiggs Coffee House Green Room
Summer 1999
Kay Etheridge with jazz vocalist Ellen Johnson
Sisters of Song: A Tribute to Women Songwriters
The Book Works/Pannikin in Del Mar
Spring 1998
Fanny and Clara: Chamber Music of Fanny Mendelssohn and Clara Schumann, with Angela Yeung, cellist and Nancy Hill, violinist
University of San Diego
Fall 1998
Gently Drunken Flowers: Poetry and Prose of Anne Sexton
with Music by 20th-century Women Composers
with Marilyn Bennett
The Book Works/Pannikin in Del Mar
1997
Fanny and Clara: Chamber Music of Fanny Mendelssohn and
Clara Schumann with Nancy Hill and Angela Yeung
First Unitarian Universalist Church Music Series
1996
Faculty Recital with Karen Follingstad: Masterpieces of Piano Four-Hand Literature
San Diego State University
1995
USD Symphony Orchestra, Navroj Mehta, conductor/violinist, performed Beethoven: Concerto for Violin, Cello and Piano
University of San Diego
1995
Music At Noon Series: Chamber Recital with Wendy Greene, Claire
Lionnet, Jim Lewis ,Peter Farrell, and Kay Etheridge (harpsichord)
Works by Roe, Telemann, Billings, Corelli.
University of San Diego
Spring 1994
Music at Noon Series: Music for Guitar and Piano or
Harpsichord, with Eric Foster, guitar
University of San Diego
1994
Music at Noon Series: The Woman Plays Today: Music
and Verse by Eighteenth-Century Women with Marilyn
Bennett and Kay Etheridge (harpsichord)
Works by deGambarini, Martinez, Park
University of San Diego
1993
Faculty Piano Recital with guest pianist, Mary Barranger
Works by Schumann and Mozart
University of San Diego
Spring 1993
Music At Noon Series:Emily Meets Amy: Poems by Emily Dickinson and music by Amy Beach, with Marilyn Bennett.
University of San Diego
1993
Faculty Piano Recital
Works by Beethoven, Chopin, Rachmaninoff and Scriabine.
University of San Diego
Spring 1992
Victor Labenske DMA Recital
(Rachmaninoff: Suite No.2 Op.17 for two pianos)
University of Southern California, Hancock Auditorium
Spring 1991
Faculty Piano Recital with guest pianist, Karen Follingstad
Works by Mozart, Debussy, Prokofieff, Rachmaninoff
University of San Diego
l991
Kay Etheridge Lecture-Recital
Stylistic and Technical Considerations for Pedaling the Debussy Preludes
First Unitarian Church of San Diego
Fall 1989