Amy Dodds

Amy Dodds joined the music faculty at Whitman College in 2001. She received her M.A. in music and D.M.A. in violin performance from Claremont Graduate University, where she studied with Rachel Vetter Huang. Other teachers have included Susan Pickett, Anke Leibrecht, and Kathryn Gray. A recipient of two major fellowships while a doctoral student, Dodds also won such competitions as the Polk Competition of the Claremont Colleges and the national Sister Mary Faustian Memorial Competition. While in Claremont, Dodds was granted exclusive use of a violin made in 1672 by Andrea Guarneri, on which she performed several recitals. In addition to performing numerous concerts around the Northwest, Dodds has also had several of her recitals aired on public television. A former member of the music faculties of Scripps College and the University of La Verne, Dr. Dodds is also a pianist, having studied with Marianne Gienger, Dorothy Fahlman, Leonard Richter, and Hao Huang. She currently teaches violin, viola, and chamber music at Whitman College.

Dodds' research has included the music of several British women composers, and she spent the summer of 2002 as a reader in the British Library, London, and the Bodleian Library, Oxford. She has written book reviews on emerging sources of women composers and performers, and was an editor of The Story of Music, a musical encyclopedia published in Great Britain.

Volunteering in the community is important to Dodds, and she frequently organizes recitals in local retirement homes and for charitable events. In 2010 she organized a concert entitled "Be Free: Humanity through Poetry and Music." The program, featuring the research of Susan Pickett, the composition of Kristin Vining, and the poetry of Linda Andrews, also included music by other women composers past and present, performed by the women faculty of all three local colleges, and was attended by Artists for Human Rights leaders as part of the Shelter for Freedom event to raise awareness about human trafficking.

Dodds has been a member of numerous orchestras, including the Walla Walla Symphony, and directed the Milton-Stateline String Ensemble from 2001-2003. She has enjoyed collaborating with the Walla Walla Choral Society, and performs regularly in local churches.

Dr. Dodds is married to Gregory Dodds, Professor of History at Walla Walla University, with whom she has two daughters.