Evelyn was born in Tanzania and lived in Africa for most of her first decade, the younger of two children of George L. and Esther Logan Pursley, Seventh-day Adventist missionaries. She studied theory and composition with Margarita Merriman while pursuing an undergraduate degree in music at Atlantic Union College and with Barney Childs while doing graduate work at the University of Redlands, California.

Pursley-Kopitzke has written over 300 pieces in a variety of musical forms, including musicals, oratorio/orchestral tone poems, art songs, and choral and instrumental pieces for both larger and chamber ensembles. She is also active in the promotion of composing and composers and in 1991 was a co-founder of the greater Tri-Cities Area Composers' Consortium in Tennessee. She has been prominent in its activities since its beginnings and many of her works have been performed in that organization's productions. She has served as its primary public relations person, writing many of its releases.

Pursley-Kopitzke received top honors for her Salaam, Frieden in the 2002 Carton Savage international I Wage Peace project. Other recognition has included the inclusion of three of her piano pieces in an anthology commissioned by the Appalachian Music Teachers' Association in 2005 and her selection as AMTA Composer of the Year, also in 2005.

She was twice commissioned to write for the East Tennessee Children's Choir (2000 Continental Harmony project). She has also produced radio commercials and a recording of her own sacred art songs. Her projects have included a concerto for contra bass (viol) commissioned by Steve Benne (Knoxville Symphony Orchestra) and 99 New Songs, a collection of Sabbath and Advent Anthems and Hymns released in 2002.

Because of Pursley-Kopitzke living most of her first decade in African Countries and having a now lost fluency in two African languages, it is likely that elements of African speech and children's songs influence her music. In addition to conventional idioms, her music includes unusual harmonies, migrating tonality, odd accents (5/4, 7/8 and changing meters), and unusual playings of traditional instruments.

She has observed, "Each new work teaches me something new about life. I hope to communicate meaning, beauty, and the power of God's grace through music."

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