Awards

Titled Professor (Emeritus) - 2002

Chancellor's Professor of Organ

About Marilyn Jean Keiser

In constant demand as an organ recitalist and workshop leader, Dr. Keiser has appeared throughout the United States in concerts sponsored by churches, colleges and chapters of The American Guild of Organists. She has been a featured artist for regional conventions of the AGO as well as for national conventions in Dallas and Washington DC, where she played with orchestra at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, and in Detroit, where she appeared with the Detroit Symphony. In addition, she has appeared as featured artist for the International Congress of Organists in Cambridge, England; in concert at the Royal Victoria Hall with the Singapore Symphony; at the American Cathedral in Paris, the Southern Cathedrals Festival in Winchester, England and the Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul in Brazil.

An active member of The American Guild of Organists, Dr. Keiser has been a member of the national council, has served as national Registrar, a member of the national nominating committee and Dean of the Western North Carolina chapter. She holds her Associate, Choirmaster and Fellowship degrees from the Guild.

A virtuoso concert organist, Marilyn Keiser has performed across the United States. In addition she has given lectures and workshops in church music for all of the major denominations, specializing in music for small churches. She has been president of the Association of Anglican Musicians, a contributing editor to the hymnal, Ecumenical Praise, has served on the Episcopal Church's Standing Commission on Church Music and was a consultant to the Hymn Music Committee for the Episcopal Hymnal 1982. In addition, she served for five years as chairman of the Advisory Board for the Leadership Program for Musicians Serving Small Congregations. Dr. Keiser is past-Chairman of the Worship and Music Commission for the Episcopal Diocese of Indianapolis and is Director of Music at Trinity Episcopal Church in Bloomington. She is also the author of a publication in the Church Hymnal Teaching Series entitled "Teaching Music in Small Churches."

Marilyn Keiser is a member of Phi Kappa Phi and Alpha Lambda Delta national honor societies. She is also a national honorary member of Sigma Alpha Iota, a national professional music fraternity. Dr. Keiser is listed in Outstanding Young Women of America, the 1973 edition of Who's Who in North Carolina and the 1975 World Who's Who of Musicians. She was one of two alumni of Illinois Wesleyan University chosen for their first annual presentation of Outstanding Young Alumni Awards. In May of 1995, she was awarded a Doctor of Humane Letters (honoris causa) from the Virginia Theological Seminary in Alexandria. In April, 1997 she was presented the Unitas Citation from Union Theological Seminary and in April 1998 she was presented with a Teaching Excellence Recognition Award from the Indiana University School of Music. She was awarded a Doctor of Humane Letters from Illinois Wesleyan University in February 2002. In April of 2002, she was named Chancellor Professor of Indiana University.

Marilyn Keiser has been heard in performance on radio broadcasts on National Public Radio stations throughout the U.S. and has recorded for Gothic (Music of Paris in the 1920's and 1930's) and Pro Organo (The People Respond-Amen, Spiritual Pairs, Studies in Relief and In Praise of the Organ: Latin Choral and Organ Music of Zoltan Kodaly). Recently she recorded Seasons of Festivity at Fairmount Presbyterian Church in Cleveland Heights, Ohio, and Centennial Flourish at St. James' Church in Hendersonville, North Carolina.