Elisa C. Cooper
Chair, Music Department

On faculty since 2005

Contact:

Office: 302
Phone: (563)588-8000 x1302
Email: ecooper@emmaus.edu

Education:

MM, Indiana University
BM, Wheaton College

Elisa C. Cooper received her B.M. in Piano Performance from Wheaton College and her M.M. in Piano Performance from Indiana University. She studied piano with Joy Miller Kiszely, Karin Redekopp Edwards, and Shigeo Neriki. She was coached by Matthew Manwarren and Elaine Greenfield at Adamant Music School and Emile Naoumoff at Indiana University and has performed in master classes with artists such as Nelita True, Alan Chow, William Westney, and Ben Heppner with Craig Rutenberg. She has performed twice at Carnegie Hall (Weill Recital Hall) and has appeared as a soloist with the Wheaton College Symphony Orchestra. As a collaborative artist, she has played with vocal and instrumental soloists, choral groups, and chamber groups for many years and continues to perform as a soloist and collaborative pianist. She has also served as an adjudicator for Iowa Music Teachers Association piano auditions and festivals in eastern Iowa. 

Miss Cooper studied conducting with Paul Wiens, Daniel Sommerville, and Ariadne Moisiades at Wheaton College and was the honors conductor for the Wheaton College Concert Choir in 2002 – 2003. She recently served as pianist and assistant conductor for the Canadian Children’s Opera Company during their 2011 European Tour to Austria and Italy. During her graduate studies, she taught undergraduate music theory/aural skills for two years as an Associate Instructor at Indiana University. Currently she is Chair of the Music Department at Emmaus Bible College where she is also the director of the Emmaus Ensemble and teaches piano, music theory/aural skills, and conducting.

Sharon K. Jensen

On faculty 1994 – 2004, since 2005

Contact:

Office: 315
Phone: (563)588-8000 x1315
Email: sjensen@emmaus.edu

Education

DMA, University of Michigan
Artist Diploma, Vienna Hochschule für Musik MM, University of Texas BA, Calvin College

Sharon Jensen holds music degrees from Calvin College, University of Texas and University of Michigan. As the recipient of a Rotary Fellowship, she attended the Hochschule fur Musik, Vienna, Austria. where she was awarded the Artist’s Diploma. Her teachers have included Hans Graf, Danielle Martin, Gary Grafman, Louis Nagel and John Perry at the Aspen Music Institute. Ms. Jensen was the chair for keyboard studies at Augustana College (Rock Island, IL) and was a member of the Augustana Trio. With the trio, she performed on St. Paul Sunday Morning and on the Dame Myra Hess Series, broadcast on WFMT from the Chicago Public Library. She has also served on the faculties of University of Wisconsin-Platteville, Calvin College and the Bay View Music Festival.

Currently a resident of Dubuque, Iowa she is a music faculty member of Emmaus Bible College where she teaches piano and related music classes. She is also an active teacher in the Iowa Music Teachers Association where her students have earned honors at the local and state levels. Sharon Jensen has appeared with orchestras throughout the mid-west, including the Quad Cities Mozart Festival Orchestra and the Dubuque Symphony. In March 2010 she made her debut at Carnegie’s Weill Recital Hall with flautist Margaret Cornils, where the duo performed again in March of 2011. She has been heard on Wisconsin Public Radio’s Live from the Chazen with the Rountree Ensemble and with Kassia Vocal Music. Dr. Jensen performs regularly as a soloist, chamber musician and collaborative pianist throughout the Tri-State area.

Lisa L. Beatty

On faculty since 1992

Contact:

Office: 103
Phone: (563)588-8000 x1103
Email: lbeatty@emmaus.edu

Education

Doctoral Studies, University of Iowa
MA, University of Iowa
BA, Clarke College

 Lisa L. Beatty earned her B.A. in Music Education from Clarke College in Dubuque, Iowa, and her M.A. in Vocal Performance from the University of Iowa. She studied piano with Virginia Gaume, cello with John Erlich, and voice with John Lease, Scott McCoy, and Kitty Eberle. She has performed as soloist with the Dubuque Symphony and the Dubuque Chorale. 

Mrs. Beatty began her teaching career as a music specialist in the Dubuque Community School District. In 1992 she joined the faculty at Emmaus teaching private voice lessons and directing the Emmaus Ensemble.  She served as Chair of the Music Department at Emmaus for thirteen years. Mrs. Beatty also served as Assistant Director of the Dubuque Chorale for eleven years and as Education Chair of the Dubuque Symphony Board of Directors for three years. 

Mrs. Beatty currently serves as Vice President for Academic Affairs at Emmaus.  She continues to teach in the Music department. Her courses include Foundations of Church Music and Teaching Secondary Music.

Kristen Eby

Adjunct faculty since 2011

Contact:

Email: keby@elearn.emmaus.edu

Education:

MM, University of Oregon
BME, Westmont College

Kristen Eby, M.M., teaches private voice in the Dubuque area and conducts a variety of choirs for the University of Dubuque. She has been the conductor of the Julien Chamber Choir, a select community ensemble, since 1999. From 1999-2004, she served as Director of Choral and Vocal Activities at Loras College. Ms. Eby received her Masters in Choral Conducting at the University of Oregon, where she also performed in the Oregon Bach Festival chorus under Helmuth Rilling. She received her Bachelor’s degree in Music Education and Piano Performance at Westmont College in Santa Barbara, California. Ms. Eby teaches voice and Diction and Song Literature at Emmaus Bible College.

Tracey Rush

Adjunct faculty since 2007

Contact:

Email: nisomtr@aol.com

Education

BS, Bob Jones University
MM, University of Northern Iowa
Iowa Teaching License

Tracey Rush is founder and Executive Director of the Northeast Iowa School of Music in Dubuque, Iowa. She earned a B.S. in Music Education from Bob Jones University, Greenville, South Carolina, where she was a composition student of Dwight Gustafson, and she has her M.M. in Music Education from the University of Northern Iowa.  Mrs. Rush teaches music in the Dubuque Community School District and is the founding conductor of the Dubuque Community String Orchestra.  She was recently featured in the Dubuque Telegraph Herald as one of the “Most Influential Musicians in the Tri-States.” In March 2008 she conducted one of her compositions at Carnegie Hall. Mrs. Rush served as Composer-in-Residence of the Dubuque Symphony’s 1996-97 season and served four terms as Chair of the Iowa Composers Forum. Her professional affiliations include the American String Teachers Association, Music Educators National Conference, and ASCAP.  Her works are published with Robert Wendel Music (NYC) and Tempo Press.  Mrs. Rush teaches Composing/Arranging as an adjunct faculty member at Emmaus Bible College.