Elaine Rendler-McQueeney

Bio

Elaine is perhaps best known for her work in Today’s Liturgy, OCP’s former liturgy quarterly periodical. She wrote columns and culled music suggestions in Today’s Liturgy for more than 35 years, eventually serving as editor. Having also completed 25 years as Professor of Music Theory at George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia, she is turning her full attention to church music and the needs of musicians. In 2025, she released Thanks and Praise: A Keyboard Anthology – an essential collection for any Catholic music ministry featuring solo keyboard arrangements for well-known liturgical music.

In 2020, Elaine received the National Association of Pastoral Musician’s prestigious Jubilate Deo Award “in recognition of her substantial contribution to the development of pastoral liturgy in the United States.” Previously, she was named NPM’s Pastoral Musician of the Year (1993) and honored by Georgetown University’s Center for Liturgy, Spirituality and the Arts (2008) “for outstanding contributions made to the liturgical life of the American Church.” In 2021, she was inducted into the Association of Catholic Publishers Hall of Fame. 

A native Philadelphian, she earned a Bachelor of Music in Music Education at Immaculata University; a Master of Music in organ performance and a Doctor of Musical Arts in organ/liturgical studies from The Catholic University of America. Her organ teachers included Philip Bansbach, Alexander McCurdy, Conrad Bernier, and Daniel Roth. 

Music ministry assignments included the Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul, Philadelphia; US Naval Academy, Annapolis, Maryland; St. Mary’s Seminary, Catonsville, Maryland; Georgetown University, Washington D.C.; Bellarmine Chapel at GMU, Fairfax, Virgina; St. Agnes Catholic Church, Shepherdstown, West Virgina. While at Georgetown University, she moved from campus ministry/teaching to the Georgetown Center for Liturgy, Spirituality, and the Arts – where she founded the Georgetown Community Chorale to offer community service through the arts.