Professional Music Bio
Kevin Woosley joined the University of Alabama School of Music faculty in the fall of 2013. Dr. Woosley studied piano under the tutelage of Jan King, Yakov Kasman, and Amanda Penick. He holds the Doctor of Musical Arts degree in piano performance from The University of Alabama, where he simultaneously earned a concentration in musicology. In addition, Dr. Woosley earned his Master of Music degree in piano performance from The University of Alabama and his Bachelor of Arts in music from the University of Alabama at Birmingham, where he graduated magna cum laude and with departmental honors.
Dr. Woosley’s DMA document is titled The Lost Art of Improvisation: Teaching Improvisation to Classical Pianists. The primary goal of this document is to delineate pedagogical improvisation methods that will better equip classically-trained pianists to participate in music opportunities beyond those experienced through traditional music instruction.
At The University of Alabama, Dr. Woosley manages and teaches within three areas: Class Piano, Life Wellness, and Introduction to Listening. Woosley’s Class Piano courses cover four semesters of group piano as a means to teach non-piano music majors how to utilize piano for their future career. Life Wellness is a weekly convocation during which music majors have an opportunity to dive into specialized topics that apply to them as musicians and people. Introduction to Listening is the specialized version of Music Appreciation at UA in which non-music majors learn the value of music from throughout history and how to truly listen to music of all eras and genres.
In 2018, Woosley launched his textbook Introduction to Listening through McGraw-Hill Education, created specifically for the Introduction to Listening courses at UA. The interactive ebook-style text is used by, roughly, 6,000 UA students per year.
The second edition of the book was released fall of 2020.
In addition to his teaching experience at The University of Alabama, Dr. Woosley has taught Fundamentals of Music at the University of Alabama at Birmingham and Music Appreciation at Shelton State Community College.
He has taught private piano lessons through UA’s Community Music School since fall of 2007.
Dr. Woosley has been an invited lecturer for various courses at The University of Alabama and for the Birmingham Music Teachers Association, and has served as an adjudicator for various piano competitions and juries.
As an active accompanist, Dr. Woosley has had experience accompanying church choirs, college concert choirs, vocalists, and instrumentalists (in both solo and chamber settings). He accompanies numerous lessons, juries, masterclasses, and recitals every year.
In addition to his classical performances (as soloist and accompanist), Dr. Woosley has been the pianist for various jazz bands, contemporary ensembles, and percussion ensembles. He enjoys participating as a pianist for a variety of professional music opportunities including solo and group jazz, weddings, receptions, and parties. As a musical theater keyboardist, Dr. Woosley has used his familiarity with keyboard/music technology to perform the notated parts for over fifty instruments in a single musical theater production.
In 2020, Dr. Woosley released a fully improvised piano album called First Take in which each musical idea heard was created at the moment of recording. Nothing rehearsed. No ideas re-used. A literal first take.
Dr. Woosley is a member of the Music Teachers National Association (MTNA), Alabama Music Teachers Association (AMTA), West Alabama Music Teachers Association (WAMTA), and College Music Society (CMS). In his free time, Dr. Woosley enjoys composing and arranging for solo piano (specifically revamping classic rock songs as if they were created by piano composers of the 19th century). He also enjoys running, hiking, drinking coffee, biking, and spending time with his beautiful wife, amazing sons, and energetic dogs.