Ellen Rowe

Born and raised in Ridgefield, Connecticut, Ellen Rowe was exposed to music at a young age. She discovered her passion for the piano at the tender age of four while learning to play by the ear. Under the instruction of John Mehegan, Rowe began to study the piano formally. After four years of instruction, Rowe attended the Eastman School of Music where she won the Kansas City Womens' Jazz Festival Combo Competition with her jazz band. Since entering the jazz arena, Ellen Rowe has demonstrated her talents appearing on the Marian McPartland Show "Piano Jazz," performing with her own trio, grasping victory for Best Acoustic Jazz in the Hartford CT Advocate Readers' Poll, and performing alongside prominent musicians, Kenny Wheeler, John Clayton, Jiggs Whigham, Ingrid Jensen, and Tom Harrell. Her compositions have been performed by the U.S. Navy Commodores, the BBC Jazz Orchestra, the Berlin Radio Jazz Orchestra, the band DIVA, and the Village Vanguard Orchestra. She has released two albums entitled Sylvan Way (2001) and Denali Pass (2005) in addition to various singles. Currently, Rowe is the Associate Professor of Jazz Piano and the director of the University of Michigan Jazz Ensemble. Rowe embodies the modern Renaissance woman, trekking up steep mountains, running marathons, biking, promoting animal rights, composing stimulating pieces, performing worldwide and educating students to analyze and question the standards of society. Ellen Rowe defies the gender expectations of her time serving the ideal role model for aspiring female musicians proving that it is unecesary for a woman to objectify her body to achieve success in male dominated fields.

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For more information on Ellen Rowe visit her site at www.ellenrowe.com