Alice Moerk

Alice Moerk
Member of the
Florida State Association
of the
National League of
American Pen Women, Inc.

Alice A. Moerk is a free-lance writer and composer who lives on Anna Maria Island, Florida, where she maintains her studio. She is Emeritus Professor of Music at Fairmont (WV) State University, and taught music and composition with the Governor's Honors Academy and with Elderhostel. She also taught at Lees College in Jackson, KY, Vardell Hall in Red Springs, NC, and Marion College in Marion, VA, and has served churches in the Midwest and East as organist and choir director.
Her works may be ordered directly at
MW MoerkWorks,
POB 1257, Anna Maria, FL 34216
Include $2.95 for shipping and handling

Trained as both musicologist and keyboardist, Alice is a proponent of the new, while adhering to the core of tradition. She finds creativity not only within our selves, but in the world around us: the inane, the humorous, the tragic, and the inexplicable.

Alice began her music studies in Philadelphia, PA, and in Freeport, IL. She holds a B. Mus from Carthage College, MFA from Ohio University, and a PhD from West Virginia University. Her specialties are medieval and 20th century music including CyberArts, music and the brain, computers, and creativity. She has worked with Ernst von Dohnanyi, Thomas Canning, Duke Ellington, and Pauline Oliveros' Deep Listening®. Click here to view a complete listing of her musical works. She has also written a quartet of novels, as well as several textbooks. Click here for a complete listing of books and novels.
The first book, The Waters of Lethe, takes the reader from Virginia to New Mexico, from Atlanta and Florida to Vera Cruz, Mexico. It tells the story of Dr. Carolyn Robinson, who has lost her family, health, and career, and moves to a ranch with her daughter to rebuild her life. However, the past catches up with them and ensuing events involve a chase, a massacre, and their eventual disappearance. Click on the picture at right to view the back cover
In the second book, "Silent Signals", a young woman is suddenly thrust from her hectic life in New York City to her past in West Virginia. She missed her brother's phone call minutes before his suicide. Heartsick, she returns to contend with the forces that led to the young boy's despair. Click on the picture at right to view the back cover
The third book in the series, "The Piper from T'P'S'L", involves a television anchor who travels to Newfoundland to film a documentary on her uncle, a world famous musician. It takes the reader from Canada's involvement in World War I to the art scene in Paris, from a Chicago network studio to the modern stage. It tragically pits brother against brother with Alexia, the news anchor, in the middle. Notably, it has no apparent relation to the first two books. Click on the picture at right to view the back cover
The fourth book, "Frozen Music", brings the characters of the preceding three books together. A fifth book in this series will continue the drama and feature a bag lady and shark research. You figure! Click on the picture at right to view the back cover
The fifth book for Alice revolves around the remarkable life of Eleanor of Aquitane-Duchess, Queen of both France and England, and mother of both Richard Lionheart and John Lackland. Eleanor and her husbands, Louis VII and Henry II, set the tone for an era. The bibliography is found by clicking here. Click on the picture at right to view the back cover

Her honors include outstanding teacher, arts awards, research grants, and listings in several Who’s Whos. Her research has appeared in journals and textbooks. Performed in Europe, South America and the US, many of her works have been supported by the FSU Foundation and WV Arts and Humanities Councils. In 1999 she was commissioned to write ByrdWatch for Senator Robert Byrd of WV and from 2000 to the present she has received numerous music awards from the National League of American Pen Women and elsewhere. Elegy was selected for performance at their National Convention in Washington DC in 2004. Her concerto Ciurlionis was featured by the Lithuanian Embassy in Washington as part of the Ciurlionis celebration. She organized and served as artistic director for the Benefit Concert for MS in WV for which Tina’s Songs were written. The Flatwoods Monster and A West Virginia Mother Goose were commissioned by the WV Folklife Center. Dickinson Songs were commissioned for the Bellingham WA Concert Series. "Variations on Pastimes" and "All That is To Come: an Elegy", have won numerous awards. Her opera, Alianor, is available on DVD. An opera in monologue, it portrays the life of Eleanor of Aquitaine.

Several of her works may also be viewed on YouTube, by going to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n89QYf9rCiU

She is a member of and is funded by ASCAP. Her professional memberships include SAI, IAWM, Tampa Bay Composers Forum, NLAPW, Gulf Coast Writer’s Guild and the Sarasota Music Club.