Elvina Pearce studied piano in New York City with Isabelle Vengerova. Her concert career is highlighted by a solo appearance with the Chicago Symphony; and recitals at Carnegie Recital Hall in New York, and the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C.

Elvina was a long-time pedagogy student of Frances Clark in Princeton, NJ where she served on the piano faculty of Westminster Choir College. She was one of the founders of the New School for Music Study and the Frances Clark Center for Keyboard Pedagogy. Upon moving to the Midwest, she taught piano and pedagogy and directed the Preparatory Piano Division at Northwestern University. She also taught at North Central College, where she founded and directed its Division of Preparatory and Community Music. Elvina was editor in chief of Keyboard Companion magazine from 2000-2006. She has presented workshops, master classes, and recitals in more than 40 states as well as in Canada, the Republic of China, and Australia. In July of 2011, she was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award presented by The National Conference on Keyboard Pedagogy in recognition of her more than a half a century of dedicated service to music-teaching and music-making.