Dr. Amanda Setlik Wilson grew up in Lisle, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago. She began piano studies at age four at the Wheaton College Community School of the Arts’ Suzuki program with Sarah Williams. At age 15, Amanda began studying with Dr. William Phemister, a professor at Wheaton College. She attended several summer music programs, including the Suzuki Institute at Stevens Point, Wisconsin, Interlochen, Indiana University Piano Academy, and the International Institute for Young Musicians in Cincinnati.
Dr. Setlik Wilson continued on to study Piano Performance at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music with husband-and-wife team Eugene and Elizabeth Pridonoff. During her time at CCM, Dr. Setlik Wilson attended piano master class programs in Belgium and the Czech Republic as well as an opera program in Lucca, Italy. She graduated Cum Laude with her Bachelors degree from CCM and moved to Boulder, Colorado to study at CU with Professor Doris Pridonoff Lehnert, earning both her Masters and DMA in Piano Performance.
Dr. Setlik Wilson specializes in new music and, in particular, the music of Emma Lou Diemer. Diemer wrote a solo piano piece for her in 2012, Toccata for Amanda, which she premiered on her final solo DMA recital in 2014. Amanda commissioned a second piece by Diemer in 2017, titled Variations on “Our Triangle,” to perform with violinist Dr. Mei Mey Segura at the 2017 Mu Phi Epsilon convention.
Dr. Setlik Wilson performs regularly throughout the Denver area as a soloist and as part of Peak Duo, her performing group with Dr. Segura. Amanda is a trained Suzuki teacher and has been teaching privately since age 17. She currently lives in Longmont with her husband, Michael, and teaches Suzuki and traditional piano lessons in her home studio.