Jerilyn Paolini
Adjunct Faculty & Collaborative Pianist
- paolini@etsu.edu
- 423-439-4270
- Mathes Hall 104
Jerilyn Paolini has been a member of ETSU’s adjunct piano faculty since 2001. She
teaches applied and class piano and performs regularly as a collaborative pianist.
She directed the ETSU Summer Piano Camp from 2005-2017, and currently teaches piano
in the ETSU Community Music School. Her pre-college students regularly earn top prizes
in local and state competitions. Paolini held the position of collaborative pianist
for the East Tennessee Suzuki Flute Institute International from 1996-2019 and was
principal keyboard player of the Johnson City Symphony Orchestra from 1995-2005.
Paolini served as president of the Tennessee Music Teachers Association from 2017-2019,
and served two biennia as president of the Appalachian Music Teachers Association,
having been awarded AMTA’s Teacher of the Year in 2024 and 2001. She presented piano
pedagogy sessions at the Tennessee Music Teachers Association conference in 2011 and
the Suzuki Association of the Americas conference in 2008.
Prior to coming to Johnson City, Paolini was a staff accompanist at The Juilliard
School and The Mannes School of Music, while also teaching at New York area music
schools. The New York Times reviewed her performance at Weill Recital Hall in Carnegie
Hall as “a splendid pianist, capable of creating an indelible mood with just a couple
of chords.” Paolini earned a Bachelor of Music degree in piano performance and theory
from Southern Illinois University in Edwardsville, and a Master of Music degree in
piano performance from the University of Texas at Austin, as well as Suzuki teacher
certification from The School for Strings in New York City. She studied with Ruth
Slenczynska, Danielle Martin, David Garvey and Samuel Sanders (collaborative piano),
and Sheila Keats (Suzuki pedagogy).