Went on a shopping trip yesterday to several electronics stores.
After my review of several ereaders, I came to the same conclusion everyone here did. eReaders suck at music. Yes, they can play some background music while you read, but none of them can do the simplest playlist functions.
Ended up buying a
Coby $30 mp3 player. Has physical controls which are probably easier for her in a performance environment.
Yes, a tablet could do both ebooks and music, but much pricier. For 30 bucks. this is a great solution for her for now.