Julie Knerr completed her PhD in Music Education with an Emphasis in Piano Pedagogy at the University of Oklahoma, where she was awarded a prestigious Alumni Fellowship.    Additional degrees include double MM degrees in Piano Performance and Piano Pedagogy from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where Dr. Knerr studied both piano and harpsichord, and a BM in Piano Performance from the University of Puget Sound.  

Previous to coming to the University of Missouri, she was on the piano faculty at Oklahoma City University.    Dr. Knerr serves on committees for the National Conference for Keyboard Pedagogy and the National Group Piano and Pedagogy Forum.    In addition to maintaining several private studios around the country, she has served as an adjudicator for the Oklahoma State Music Teachers Association festivals, and her work in pre-college group teaching has been presented at the Music Teachers National Convention.    In the summer she teaches on the faculty of Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp, and in the summer of 2005 she inaugurated Norman Piano Day Camp at the University of Oklahoma.    In addition, Dr. Knerr performs as a collaborative pianist around the United States.    Dr. Knerr's current research interests include elementary level piano technique, lesser known pre-college piano repertoire, college group piano pedagogy, and she is currently co-authoring a children's piano method.