Nancy Parker
Dr. Nancy Reimers Parker holds a Ph.D. in music from the University of Minnesota. At Bethel University she earned a degree in Music Educaton with an emphasis in piano performance. Additional studies were in piano performance at California State University-Fullerton, the University of Southern California, and Portland State University in Oregon where she complete a master's degree in music education.
Dr. Parker is the instructor for "Teaching Music in the K-8 Classroom" at SCSU, a course that introduces educators to arts integration in the elementary classroom. Past responsibilities at SCSU included Director of the Women's Choir, Director of Cantabile Girls' Choir, and Director of the Preparatory Program, a community outreach program for pre-college aged musicians.
Dr. Parker was the Director of the Women's Chorale at Bethel University, St. Paul for nine years. Performances included Bethel's annual Festival of Christmas which is attended every year by an audience of over 6,000. The Women's Chorale was also selected to perform at the Minnesota Music Educators Midwinter In-Service Clinic held at the Minneapolis Convention Center.
Dr. Parker taught grades 6-12 music for ten years while living in Portland, Oregon. Classroom experiences included teaching choral music, general music, music appreciation and theory and instrumental music. Her choirs placed first at state festivals in both performance and sight-singing competitions. She was a participating conductor with MidAmerican Productions in New York City, involving her choral groups in Carnegie Hall performances of Mozart's Requiem and Handel's Messiah.
Dr. Parker has taught music education courses at Concordia St. Paul and the University of Northwestern, where she also supervised student teachers.