Eileen Cornett is Associate Professor of Keyboard and Vocal Studies at the Peabody Conservatory, where she has taught for over three decades. She established the graduate Vocal Accompanying Program in Collaborative Piano and played a central role in the opera program as longtime Principal Coach for Peabody Opera Theatre. Through her teaching and mentorship, she has shaped generations of artists whose careers span the international music world; her students, pianists, singers, and conductors work in major opera houses worldwide, perform on Broadway, coach and conduct productions internationally, and include college professors of collaborative piano and voice. Ms. Cornett performs as a collaborative pianist, opera coach, solo and orchestral pianist, music director, and conductor. She began her professional career as musical director of the Croswell Opera House in Michigan, leading productions including Sweeney Todd, The Pirates of Penzance, and Fiddler on the Roof. She has since enjoyed an extensive international career as conductor and coach, with engagements including the Amalfi Coast Music and Arts Festival and Summer Music in Tuscany in Italy, Tanz und Gesang Studio at the Theater an der Wien in Vienna, Creaton Opera Company in Kaohsiung, Taiwan, the Souland Music Institute in Hangzhou, China, the Fairbanks Summer Arts Festival, Annapolis Opera, Opera Baltimore, Maryland Opera, the Lake Placid Institute, the Seagle Colony Summer Vocal Program, and the University of Michigan Musical Theatre Department. Ms. Cornett led Peabody Chamber Opera’s United States premiere of Jonathan Dove’s Mansfield Park, cited by The Baltimore Sun as one of Baltimore’s best classical music productions, and recently conducted the newly revised version of Jake Heggie’s Out of Darkness Two Remain, with the composer in residence. Other conducting credits span opera and musical theatre and include Hansel and Gretel, Gianni Schicchi, Suor Angelica, Die Fledermaus, Barnum, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, and Sweeney Todd. She was the originating musical director for NOW THIS!, a Washington based fully improvised music theatre comedy troupe, and toured nationally for more than eight years with the political satire group The Capitol Steps.

As a featured solo pianist with the National Symphony Orchestra, Ms. Cornett has appeared in concerts with Rosemary Clooney, Denyce Graves, Renee Fleming, Anna Netrebko, Luciano Pavarotti and the Three Tenors, Bryn Terfel, Frederica von Stade, and Brian Stokes Mitchell. She has performed as orchestral pianist under conductors including Marin Alsop, Bill Conti, Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos, Paul Gemignani, Marvin Hamlisch, James Levine, Eve Queler, Leonard Slatkin, and Stephen White, with appearances at the Kennedy Center, Merkin Hall, National Portrait Gallery, Strathmore Hall, and international venues throughout Belgium, China, Italy and Taiwan. A frequent competition and master class pianist, Ms. Cornett has served as an official accompanist for the Metropolitan Opera Laffont Competition, Annapolis Opera Competition, Camille Coloratura Competition, Sue Goetz Ross Competition for Voice, International Marian Anderson Vocal Arts Competition, Baltimore Opera Competition, and the Rosa Ponselle All Marylanders Competition. She works frequently with the Denyce Graves Foundation and has accompanied master classes for Luigi Alva, Cristina Deutekom, Mignon Dunn, Phyllis BrynJulson, Victoria Livengood, Sherill Milnes, Paul Sperry, Damien Sneed, Robert Spano, Frederica von Stade, Francesca Zambello, and Brian Zeger.

As a collaborative pianist, Ms. Cornett has performed in recital at major venues in the United States and abroad and appears regularly with her chamber music trio, Northern Accord, presenting recitals and master classes at universities nationwide. Her recordings include Opus Opera! with the Da Camera Singers, Dominick Argento’s Miss Havisham’s Wedding, Spirit with Northern Accord, and multiple recordings with The Capitol Steps. Recent projects include A Treasury of Polish Songs and a recording of twentieth century New England clarinet sonatas.

Ms. Cornett holds a Bachelor of Music in Piano Performance and a Master of Music in Piano Accompanying and Chamber Music from the University of Michigan, where she studied with Martin Katz and Lynne Bartholomew. She pursued additional studies at the Music Academy of the West with Gwendolyn Koldofsky and Jean Barr and is a former faculty member of Loyola College. Ms. Cornett and her husband, tenor Stanley Cornett, live in Baltimore and are the proud parents of two daughters, Lydia, an award-winning filmmaker, and Emily, a cellist and social worker advocating for immigrant rights.