Kristen Pellegrino

Dr. Kristen Pellegrino serves as Professor of Music Education at the University of Texas at San Antonio within the College of Liberal and Fine Arts, specializing in String Music Education. She recently completed a six-year Presidential term (2018-2024) with the American String Teachers Association (ASTA) and currently serves as Immediate Past-President. At UTSA, Dr. Pellegrino teaches undergraduate and graduate courses, chairs music education theses, advises String Education and Masters students, and serves as the Pedagogical Advisor for UTSA's String Project.

Her educational background includes:

• B.M. in Music Education and Applied Violin/Performance from the Eastman School of Music
• M.M. in Violin Performance/Chamber Music Performance from the University of Michigan
• Ph.D. in Music Education from the University of Michigan

Dr. Pellegrino's research focuses on the intersections between music-making and teaching, with particular emphasis on music teacher identity development, resilience during career transitions, and preservice music teacher education. Her work examines how music teachers' personal music-making practices influence their teaching effectiveness, professional identity, and wellbeing. She investigates how early-career music teachers navigate the transition from performer to educator and how they develop their professional identities within supportive communities. Her research often employs qualitative and self-study methodologies to explore the lived experiences of music teachers and teacher educators.

Her extensive publication record reveals consistent themes across music education subfields, particularly examining the relationship between teachers' personal music-making and their classroom practice. Her work spans teacher identity development, assessment practices in performance-based music classes, preservice teacher education, and the role of professional communities in supporting music educators through career transitions. She has made significant contributions to understanding how music teachers balance their identities as performers and educators, and how this balance affects their teaching practice and professional satisfaction.

Dr. Pellegrino has received notable recognition for her scholarly contributions:

• ASTA's String Researcher Award (2016)
• AERA's Outstanding Early Career Paper Award in Music Education (2014)
• Three Internal Research Award Grants from UTSA

She has successfully secured research funding including a $5,000 grant for "Music Teacher Identity Development: A Longitudinal Study" (2020-2021) and another $5,000 grant for "Music Teacher Resilience: Identity Transitions in the Early Years of Teaching" (2017-2018). Her editorial work includes co-editing the Oxford Handbook of Preservice Music Teacher Education in the United States (2019) and Oxford University Press's Teaching Instrumental Music: Contemporary Pedagogies and Perspectives (2023). With over 40 scholarly publications and 125 conference presentations, Dr. Pellegrino has established herself as a leading researcher in music teacher identity and development.

Her background includes eight years of public-school string teaching at elementary and high school levels in Fairfax County Public Schools and Warwick Public Schools, along with collegiate teaching experience at Rhode Island College, Central Michigan University, and Christopher Newport University. Before transitioning to full-time teaching, she was a professional performer with the Chagall String Quartet, which received a Rural Residencies Grant from Chamber Music America. She continues to perform as a member of Rhode Island's Music on the Hill Chamber Music Festival, maintaining the connection between her performing and teaching identities that informs much of her research.