Dr. Keith Talley joined the faculty at Eastern Kentucky University as the Director of the School of Music in the fall of 2022. Previously he served as Chair of the Department of Music at Missouri Southern State University and the Ed and Winnie Ola Berrong Endowed Chair of the Department of Music at Southwestern Oklahoma State University. Dr. Talley led SWOSU to a reaccreditation with the National Association of Schools of Music (NASM) in 2015 and led MSSU to their first ever NASM accreditation in 2020. Dr. Talley has previously served as the Director of SWOSU’s Summer Music Camp program that brings nearly 1000 students and over 150 faculty and staff members to SWOSU every summer.
Dr. Talley received his Doctorate of Musical Arts degree in Saxophone Performance from Michigan State University. He holds a Master of Music degree from the University of Missouri – Kansas City Conservatory of Music and also holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Instrumental Music Education. He has appeared with the Oklahoma City Philharmonic Orchestra and has performed new pieces and presented at regional and international saxophone and percussion conferences as a soloist, lecturer, and as a member of a chamber ensemble. Dr. Talley has performed with various chamber groups that have premiered new works at concerts and recitals throughout the United States.
Dr. Talley is a founding member of the Chisolm Saxophone Quartet in Oklahoma, the Four State Saxophone Quartet and the Coalesce Saxophone Quartet in Joplin, MO that performs around the region. Dr. Talley is an active member of the community. He has performed and presented for many community. Dr. Talley also performs with many local and regional theatre productions and church presentations. He is a frequent performer and clinician in the regions he has lived presenting recitals, saxophone clinics, working with the Oklahoma All-State saxophone section, Southwestern MMEA All-District Jazz Band, judging state MTNA competitions, judging state and district solo and ensemble competitions in Missouri, Oklahoma, and Idaho. Along with his solo recitals, he performs recitals with clarinet, percussion, and flute professionals in the region.
In his time at MSSU and SWOSU, Dr. Talley has been fortunate to work with many outstanding, hard-working students. He has had saxophone quartets perform at regional and international saxophone conferences as well as many venues around the region. One highlight featured the Penultimate Saxophone Quartet who was selected to perform for the esteemed Professor of Saxophone, Dr. Eugene Rousseau, in a master class with an audience of over 500 saxophonists at Arizona State University. Former students of Dr. Talley have pursued graduate degrees in saxophone performance, composition, and music education at the University of Arizona, the University of Arkansas, the University of Kansas, Texas Tech University, the University of Cincinnati, the University of Oklahoma, the University of Missouri, Oklahoma State University, and Oklahoma City University and many others. Many of Dr. Talley’s former students are music teachers at the elementary, secondary, and university levels.