Cherise Ann da Cunha
Instructor of Piano
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Biography
Cherise Ann da Cunha received a Bachelor of Music degree with a major in Piano Performance, and a Master of Music degree with a major in Piano Pedagogy from Texas Christian University (TCU) in Fort Worth. She graduated Magna Cum Laude and was the recipient of the prestigious Lili Kraus Scholarship during her studies at TCU. Miss da Cunha began her piano studies in Bombay, India, following the curriculum of the Trinity College of Music, London, under the instruction of Mrs. Ivy Fernandes. Upon her immigration to the United States she continued her piano instruction with Mr. John Owings, first at Indiana University at South Bend (IUSB) and subsequently at TCU. Miss da Cunha completed her Masters degree in Piano Pedagogy under the instruction and supervision of Mrs. Leanne Kirkham. Her graduate assistantship duties included teaching and assisting in Class Piano for college music majors as well as Functional Piano for college piano majors. She has taught students of all ages and levels, ranging from pre-school Kindermusik and Piano Readiness through Adult Class Piano.
Miss da Cunha has performed frequently at IUSB as well as TCU. In addition she has collaborated with other artists here in the US and Canada, as well as in UK and India. She has been a prizewinner in the Annual Gary Martin Piano Competition and winner of the IUSB Concerto Competition. Miss da Cunha is a member of Pi Kappa Lambda, National Music Honor Society. A Nationally Certified Teacher of Music (NCTM), Miss da Cunha is a member of Music Teachers National Association (MTNA), Oregon Music Teachers Association (OMTA), Portland District Music Teachers Association, Kindermusik Educator’s Association (KEA), and Early Childhood Music and Movement Association (ECMMA). Miss da Cunha also has the highest level of certification (Level III) through ECMMA, as well as Professional Board Certification through Kindermusik International.
Miss da Cunha has been teaching piano for about twenty-five years and Kindermusik for ten. Besides her teaching positions in Texas and Indiana, she has served on the teaching faculty at North Central College in Naperville, Illinois, was local facilitator for Chicagoland SPELLS, a non-profit piano advocacy organization, and has been an active adjudicator at various festivals and competition in the Chicagoland area. Miss da Cunha was on the piano faculty at William Rainey Harper College in Palatine, Illinois. At Harper College she taught private piano, class piano, was Prep Piano Facilitator and the Kindermusik program Co-ordinator. In addition to those duties, she was co-chair for NWSMTA Awards Competition and ISMTA District Auditions.
Miss da Cunha moved to the Portland area in 2002. In addition to maintaining a full private teaching studio, she is an adjudicator for OMTA Syllabus Examinations. She also serves as OMTA State Provisional Membership Chair and OMTA Syllabus Co-Chair at both State and Local levels. Miss da Cunha is currently on the piano faculty at Pacific University in Forest Grove as well as Portland Community College’s Sylvania Campus, teaching Applied Piano and Group Piano for Music Majors and Non-music majors.