Earlene Rentz (b. 1956) received her Bachelor's degree in Music Education from the University of Montevallo (Alabama) and both Master and Doctoral degrees in Music Education from Florida State University. She is a native of Moultrie, Georgia, and taught choral music for seven years in Habersham County (GA) at elementary, junior high, and high school levels. She has taught music education courses at California State University, Long Beach, The University of Texas at Austin, and Baylor University.

In addition to her current work as a free-lance choral writer, she is a speaker and clinician in choral music education techniques that emphasize two major areas of teaching: 1) behavior modification techniques in choral rehearsals and 2) developing rehearsal supplements that assist students in learning choral music faster while making the process easier.

Dr. Rentz frequently conducts choral ensembles in district, regional, and state events. She has conducted All-State choirs in Alabama, Georgia, Florida, and Kentucky, and will conduct the 2008 Alabama SSA All-State Choir in March.

(Contact Earlene: erentz@earlenerentz.com)

She currently has more than 250 secular and sacred choral publications for elementary, middle school, high school, and church ensembles with several publishers, which include Alfred, Alliance, BriLee, Carl Fischer, Choristers Guild, Colla Voce, Hal Leonard, Heritage, Hinshaw, Lorenz, MorningStar, Oxford, Shawnee Press, Walton, and Warner Brothers.

personal

Here I am with the most important man in my life, Bill Turner. We were married in 2001, and life is really wonderful. After a long ministry in the pastoral profession, Bill has become the Director of the Doctor of Ministry program at Lexington Theological Seminary.  He is a wonderful gift in my life, and provides much inspiration, insight, and feedback for me in my music writing. Bill is a great musician and a gifted singer, so he is a great person to have around for "ear" purposes. He generally listens to all my pieces before I send them to a publisher so that I may have a first-listener opinion….a valuable asset in this profession! We also enjoy combining our gifts to lead in Composer Weekends for church choirs and others interested in having us visit as a minister/composer combination.

We love living in Kentucky. We have a couple of acres, where I look out onto some beautiful scenery when I work and when I rest on the deck. We live on a lake, and we enjoy the mild summers and the winter snows. We moved here from Houston, so the climate is most welcome and enjoyable for us! This photo of us was made in our yard during the winter snows.