Rachel Whitcomb
Associate Director of the School of Music
College of Music & Performing Arts
Biography
Dr. Rachel Whitcomb has over 30 years of experience as a music educator and administrator. In 2009, she joined the faculty in the Mary Pappert School of Music at Duquesne University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. During her time there, she also served as Associate Dean and Program Director of Music Education. As a music teacher educator, she specializes in early childhood/elementary general music methods and popular music pedagogies. Her research interests include improvisation in elementary general music classrooms, the role of popular music in schools, and vulnerability and authenticity in songwriting and teaching. She is a Modern Band Higher Education Fellow with Music Will. Her work has been published in Journal of Research in Music Education, Music Educators Journal, The Kodály Envoy, and General Music Today. She is a frequent presenter at international, national, regional, state, and local professional development conferences for music educators and early childhood teachers. Rachel is also an active singer-songwriter and recording artist.