The University of Memphis Rudi E. Scheidt School of Music is pleased to announce Ellen Koziel as our Visiting Assistant Professor of Music Education.
Ellen Koziel, PhD, received her BA in organ performance from Radford College and a MM with a concentration in Orff Schulwerk, and a PhD in Music Education from the University of Memphis.
A former public school elementary Orff specialist and National Board-Certified teacher, she has taught Levels I and II for the summer Orff Certification courses at the University of Memphis and the Collegiate School/Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, Virginia. She has also taught all three levels of recorder for the Memphis and Atlanta training courses.
“It is my privilege to welcome Dr. Ellen Koziel to the Rudi Scheidt School of Music as a Visiting Professor in Music Education this fall. She is an accomplished educator, researcher, and a proud alumna of the School of Music. I am excited to see the impact she makes on our faculty and students.” said Kevin Sanders, Director of the Rudi E. Scheidt School of Music.
Koziel was the first General Music Chairperson for the Tennessee Music Education Association where she proposed, developed, and chaired the first Tennessee Treble Choir event. While president of WTGMEA, she spearheaded the establishment of the West Tennessee Festival Chorus. Koziel served on the development team for the Tennessee Fine Arts Portfolio of Student Growth for teacher evaluation and served as a scorer. She was awarded the Tennessee Music Education Association’s “Hall of Fame Award” in the spring of 2017.
Koziel is a member of the American Orff-Schulwerk Association. She has served as president of the Memphis Chapter of the American Orff-Schulwerk Association and West Tennessee General Music Association, presenting workshops at the local, state, and national levels. In the fall of 2005, she was awarded the Endorsed Trainer Certificate from the Music and Movement division of the High/Scope Educational Research Foundation. Since her retirement from Shelby County Schools, Koziel has been the director of the Rhodes College Women’s Chorus and Assistant Minister of Music at the Church of the Holy Communion in Memphis.