Dr. Jeff Kleinsorge is the director of the Preparatory and Community Piano Program and teaches university courses in piano pedagogy. He is an executive officer on the board of directors for both Chicago Music Teachers Association and the Illinois State Music Teachers Association.
He was formerly on the faculty of the New School for Music Study, where his mentors included Louise Goss and Marvin Blickenstaff. Dr. Kleinsorge has studied with some of the most important pianists of our generation, such as Ralph Votapek, Constance Keene, John Browning, and Gary Graffman, and can trace his pedagogical pedigree–working backward from student to teacher–to Chopin, Liszt, Beethoven and Haydn.
Dr. Kleinsorge holds Suzuki certification, which he gained through studies with Caroline Fraser at the Memphis Suzuki Institute. He is also a member of the Interlochen Center for the Arts summer piano faculty. He is currently president of the Illinois Music Teachers Association (MTA) and regularly presents lectures and workshops to local MTAs throughout the region, and at MTA state conventions.
Degrees
- PhD, Composition - Michigan State University; East Lansing, MI
- MM, Piano - The Manhattan School of Music; New York, NY
- BM, Theory and Composition - Michigan State University; East Lansing, MI
- BM, Piano - Michigan State University; East Lansing, MI