Aleigh A. Papagno began her piano studies at the age of eight and has since enjoyed a multifaceted career as a collaborative pianist, church musician, teacher, writer, and presenter. A native of Florida, her musical studies have taken her to South Carolina, where she earned a Bachelor of Music in Keyboard Performance, summa cum laude, from Bob Jones University, and to Ohio, where she completed a Master of Music in Piano Performance and Pedagogy along with a Graduate Certificate in Music Theory Pedagogy at Ohio University. Aleigh is currently a Ph.D. candidate in Piano Pedagogy at Louisiana State University, where she was inducted into the Phi Kappa Phi National Honor Society.

​Aleigh’s passion for teaching was sparked in high school when she began working as a teacher’s assistant for the Capitano Music Studio in her hometown, Ocala, Florida. During her undergraduate studies, Aleigh served as a pedagogy intern with Piano Central Studios in Greenville, South Carolina where she taught in both private and group settings. As a master’s student, Aleigh taught group piano as part of her graduate assistantship and private lessons for the Athens Community Music School. Aleigh currently serves as a Graduate Teaching Assistant at Louisiana State University where she teaches group piano courses while maintaining a small, itinerant piano studio.

As a researcher, Aleigh’s work focuses on musicians’ wellness, with an emphasis on the well-being of music students and teachers. Aleigh has presented her research at state, national, and international conferences, including the National Conference on Keyboard Pedagogy (NCKP), the Music Teacher's National Association (MTNA) National Conference, and the International Society for Music Education (ISME) World Conference. In 2025, her article The Well-Tempered Keyboard Lab: Wellness Strategies for the Group Piano Classroom was awarded first place in Piano Magazine’s Collegiate Writing Contest and was later published in the Winter 2026 issue. 

In addition to being a pianist, Aleigh is a budding sourdough baker, a novice crocheter, an avid hiker, and an active reader of Agatha Christie’s novels.