Gladys Frisch Harris Piano Festival

Dr. Amy Grinsteiner is a Professor in the joint College of Saint Benedict and Saint John’s University Department of Music in Minnesota, teaching studio piano, class piano, collaborative piano, piano pedagogy, chamber music, Rock and Roll History, 19th Century Music History and Music through History.

Born and raised in Montana, she holds a Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the University of Washington, Diploma of Postgraduate Performance and L.R.A.M. Teaching Certificate from the Royal Academy of Music in London, a Master of Music Degree in Piano Performance from the Eastman School of Music, and Bachelor of Music Degree in Piano Performance from the University of Colorado, Boulder. At the University of Washington, Dr. Grinsteiner studied with Dr. Robin McCabe. Her other primary teachers include Dennis Alexander, Angela Cheng, Dr. Nelita True, Christopher Elton, and additional studies with Paul Lewis.

Dr. Grinsteiner enjoys a varied performance schedule that includes solo recitals, concerto performances, chamber music recitals and choral accompanying work.  A proponent of new music, Amy has worked with numerous composers including Rome Prize winner Huck Hodge and composition faculty from Sichuan University in Chengdu. Some of her notable collaborations include those with members of the Seattle Symphony and Tacoma Symphony, as well as faculty from many universities and colleges including the University of Minnesota, University of Washington, College of Saint Benedict and Saint John’s University, Tacoma College, Pacific Lutheran University, and the University of Puget Sound. Passionate about choral conducting, Amy has served as the Choral Director for college choirs at Pierce College and Tacoma College in Washington, and for high school choirs at the Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp in Michigan. Dr. Grinsteiner also serves as Teaching Faculty and Faculty Program Coordinator at the Seattle Piano Institute, a summer program for aspiring young classical pianists at the University of Washington, Seattle. Proven to be a very successful summer program, SPI will enter its 16th season in 2026. Her interest in young performers has also made her an active and popular adjudicator for numerous festivals and competitions throughout the Pacific Northwest and Midwest.

As a recipient of both the Rotary Ambassadorial Scholar Award and the P.E.O. National Scholar Award, Amy has traveled extensively building awareness and appreciation for the arts. Through her creation of the Goldberg Project, she found a meaningful way to bring elementary age students into the concert hall using abstract art lessons, regular classroom instruction, and a shared final performance. Her work with this project is cited in “The Musically Vibrant Classroom: Music for Children and Their Teachers” by Dr. Patricia Shehan Campbell and Dr. Carol Scott-Kassner (2012).  Passionate about audience building, Dr. Grinsteiner traveled to London on a student-faculty Wang Center Grant from Pacific Lutheran University. The research grant project, “Music as a hub in the London community,” involved studying audience development and the impact of community outreach work. Amy has received three Central Minnesota Arts Board Grants to start and build, in collaboration with her late colleague Dr. Edward Turley, the Dennis Alexander Piano Festival and Competition in Minnesota. A former faculty member at Tacoma College, Pacific Lutheran University, and Pierce College, Amy is in her 14th year on the faculty of CSB+SJU. She served as Music Department Chair from 2021- 2024 and was the recipient of the Sister Mary Grell Teacher of Distinction Award in 2017.