Michele Paynter Paise

Bio

Dr. Michele Paynter Paise is the Music Education Coordinator, an Associate Professor of Music, and the Director of the Kodály Institute of Kentucky at Morehead State University. Prior to arriving in Morehead, Dr. Paise was a faculty member at Cumberland University, Middle Tennessee State University, and the University of Idaho. She also taught courses at Arizona State University and was a K-12 music teacher in Maryland, Tennessee, and Arizona.

Dr. Paise is a member of several professional music organizations, including the National Association for Music Education, the Organization of American Kodály Educators, The International Kodály Society, The Kentucky Association of Kodály Educators, The Kentucky Music Educators Association, the Kentucky Association of Gifted Education, Kappa Delta Pi, Sigma Alpha Iota, and The Mayday Group. Within these organizations, she has held local, state, and national offices.

In demand as a clinician, Paise has presented workshops throughout the United States focused on elementary and vocal music education. She has served as an instructor for summer certification programs at the Kodály Institute of Kentucky, the Kodály Institute at Arizona State University, and the University of Montevallo Kodály Institute. Her areas of specialization within the Kodály approach include solfa/musicianship, choir/conducting, and special topics.

Active in all aspects of music education, Dr. Paise has served on the editorial boards of Music Educators Journal and General Music Today. She presents her research at local, state, national, and international conferences and has served as a National General Music Mentor for beginning music teachers. She regularly advises undergraduate and graduate students in their own research projects. Many of her students have won awards and have been asked to present their research at events outside of the university. This led Dr. Paise to establish the MSU Music Research Symposium, an event aimed at highlighting the research of music students at Morehead State.

Paise is a three-time nominee for the Grammy Music Educator Award, and in 2019 and 2021, she was named District 8's University Teacher of the Year by the Kentucky Music Educators Association. Passionate about service learning and working with community partners, she has been nominated for the MSU Distinguished Service Award three times. In 2023-2024, Paise was nominated for the MSU Distinguished Teacher Award and was presented with the Morehead State University Community and Civic Engagement Award.

Dr. Paise holds undergraduate degrees in Vocal Performance and Music Education from Shepherd University, a Master of Music degree from The Peabody Institute of The Johns Hopkins University, and a Doctor of Musical Arts degree from Arizona State University. She is certified in both the Orff-Schulwerk and Kodály approaches to music education and has completed Level I of World Music Drumming.

Paise currently serves as Choir Director and regularly chants Vespers, Matins, and other services at Holy Spirit Orthodox Church in Huntington, WV. She plays clarinet in the MSU Clarinet Ensemble, the Madison Community Band, the Bluegrass Winds Ensemble, the Sacred Winds Ensemble, and the KYVA Summer Winds Ensemble. She resides in Lakeview Heights, Kentucky, with her husband, John and their dog Georgina. When not teaching or making music, she can be found serving the community by leading annual blanket drives for shelter animals in Kentucky or organizing outreach projects as a parish representative for International Orthodox Christian Charities, a humanitarian agency that serves people in need around the world.