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Dr. Brenda Wilder is from Clinton, Mississippi, and recently retired from Tougaloo College, where she served as an Assistant Professor of Music and Coordinator of QEP/Faculty Development. She is Pianist for First United Methodist Church in Clinton and teaches private piano and voice students for the newly organized Clinton Music Conversatory, featuring Kiddy Keys for preschool children. Dr. Wilder works as an adjunct music professor at Hinds Community College and serves as Staff Accompanist. She enjoys writing freelance for several newspapers in Mississippi and serving as an Account Manager for the Clinton Courier and Southwest Rankin News.
Dr. Wilder has a Bachelor of Music Education from Mississippi State University, a Masters of Music Education from Mississippi University for Women, and a Ph.D in Higher Education Leadership from the University of Mississippi.
Being an active researcher, Dr. Wilder has been involved in numerous research projects on Modern Day Slavery and has served as a Fellow for the Tougaloo College Modern Day Slavery Institute. Additional research projects include Nuclear Disaster Preparedness in Mississippi, Earthquake Preparedness of HBCU Colleges in Mississippi, and The Effects of Music for Mental, Emotional, and Physical Healing of Residents on the Mississippi and Louisiana Gulf Coasts Following Hurricane Katrina.
Dr. Wilder’s publications and honors include being featured in Mississippi Today in an article named Mississippians Confront Modern Day Slavery and in Jackson Free Press in an article named Brenda Wilder. She is published in the Journal of the Mississippi Academy of Sciences and received numerous awards for Student Recruitment and Best High School Day Booth at Tougaloo College. She is recipient of the 2015 Virgia Brooks-Shedd Excellence in Community Service Award, which recognizes the Tougaloo College faculty member whose attunement to the needs of others has led to selfless contributions of time and talent to advance the common weal. She has been a featured performer for the Steinway National Tour and is listed in Strattsmore Who's Who in America and Who’s Who of American Women. Her music articles have been published in Pedalpoint and Church Musician Today.
Dr. Wilder enjoys playing piano, public speaking, and adjudicating piano festivals. She has served as a judge for the National Piano Guild in Mississippi, Alabama, Louisiana, Tennessee, Nevada, Colorado, Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Washington DC. She enjoys spending time with her husband, two children, and eight grandchildren.
Faculty: About Me
Ms. Shardae McAfee is a native of Jackson, Mississippi. She currently serves as a piano instructor at Clinton Music Conservatory where she teaches private piano lessons and group lessons for the Kiddy Keys Program. She received her Bachelor of Arts Degree in Piano Performance and Bachelor of Science Degree in Chemistry from Tougaloo College in 2012. She was a proud participant of the concert choir, jazz ensemble, and opera workshop. She also participated in summer research programs at Tougaloo College, Jackson State University, and Harvard Medical School in collaboration with the Jackson Heart Study.  Ms. McAfee has previously worked in positions as Children’s Church Director at Third Temple Church of Christ Holiness, Sanctuary Choir Director for Oak Grove Missionary Baptist Church, and as Cantata Staff with the Cade Chapel Missionary Baptist Church. She has accompanied various middle school and high school choirs in Hinds County including Brinkley Middle School, Carver Middle School, and Raymond High School, and has served as a private piano teacher for over 10 years to various students in the Hinds County area. Additionally, she has received several awards, scholarships, and mentorship from Ernestine Ross’s Piano Studio. Some of her hobbies include reading, running, traveling, and spending time with her family.
Faculty: About Me
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