
This program is funded by the Nellie Tholen Fund of the Oregon Community Foundation. It is specifically dedicated to the development of piano teaching in the state of Oregon.
THOLEN FELLOWSHIPS
RECENT ALUMNI
Portland Piano International congratulates the following for their recent completion of their Tholen Fellowships.
RECENT ALUMNI
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Anne Denis
Anne Denis is a pianist and teacher based in Portland Oregon. Originally from New York state, Anne completed degrees in Piano Performance at the State University of New York College at Fredonia and the Ohio State University. Anne was also a graduate teaching assistant in the University of Memphis’ doctoral program. Anne has competed and been a prize winner in collegiate level piano competitions and was most recently accepted into the Brahms International Piano Competition in Portschach Austria. She has participated in summer festivals and has performed recitals in the United States and Europe. With more than ten years of teaching experience, Anne is a dedicated teacher who operates her own piano studio in Beaverton Oregon. Her students have been chosen to participate in masterclasses and have been prize winners in competitions. Anne is an active OMTA member and has had many students participate in all levels of syllabus as well as the ABRSM program.
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Sally Crawford
Sally Crawford did her undergraduate and graduate work in performance and piano pedagogy. Her teachers include Dr. Robert Steinbauer (Wichita State), Ruth Slenczynska (Southern Illinois), Nancy Garrott and Amanda Vick Lethco (U of Texas: Austin). She has taught for 35 years in Austin, St Louis, Portland and Seattle. In Seattle, she was president of the Seattle Music Teachers Association and founded the “Artist-Teacher” recitals at the Frye Art Museum. She has been an adjudicator in Texas, Kansas, Illinois, Washington and Oregon. She currently lives in Salem with her husband, David, and continues to teach privately.
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Jeana Graham
Jeana Graham, owner of Jeana's Pirate Piano Studio, presents music learning in a fun atmosphere at her private residence and in the general music classroom in the rural area of Brownsville, Oregon. She jumps at any opportunity to accompany vocal or instrumental ensembles in her community. Jeana recently obtained her Preliminary Teaching Certificate in Music this year and completed Course Level I through Portland Orff Schulwerk in 2019. In 2017 she earned a National Certificate in Piano Teaching from Music Teachers National Association and in 1983 she acquired her Bachelors of Music degree in Piano Performance from the University of South Dakota. She has been studying Edwin Gordon's Music Learning Theory which focuses on understanding music through audiation (hearing music that is not physically present) for her own benefit as a performing musician and for the benefit of her students. She is committed to the lifelong pursuit of learning, especially music, and wishes to ignite this passion in her students.
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Teresa Sealey
Teresa Sealey has taught private piano lessons for 19 years in her home studio. She started playing the piano in 1st grade, however due to extenuating circumstances she was unable to continue her lessons. Teresa loves playing the piano and continued to play throughout her life. Desiring to improve her skill and knowledge of music, she had lessons as an adult when her sons took piano lessons. Teresa’s music experience includes 8 years of teaching classroom music, conducting and accompanying choirs, and singing in choir. She has a B.S. in Education. She is an active member in OMTA; her positions include state secretary, festival chair, and district president.
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Auksuole Jackunaite
Wilsonville
Auksuole Jackunaite is a piano teacher and music educator based in Portland, Oregon. She holds a Masters Degree in Music Educology from Lithuania, and has over 20 years experience teaching piano in her native Lithuania and the US.
She is a long-time coach for the International creative problem-solving program Odyssey of the Mind and creator of imaginative teaching resources for young piano students. Always interested in innovative teaching she recently established her successful online piano studio, reaching students globally. Auksuole is fluent in three languages, and mom of two bilingual children, who often join her in recitals playing violin, fiddle, and cello.
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Svetlana Lazarev
Portland
Svetlana Lazarev: Sharing her love of creating music is her passion. She has been teaching piano in Portland, Oregon since 2005. Instructing in three different languages, she enjoys tailoring individual lessons to meet the needs and goals of her students. Her musical education began at the Dzerginsk Specialized School of Music in Belarus, where she first fell in love with the piano at the age of eight. After moving to the United States, she spent time learning under the guidance of Mary Kogen, playing in a local performance group and teaching in her private piano studio as well as at Forte Music School. She is an active member of the National Music Teachers Association and Oregon Music Teachers Association. Additionally, she holds a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering and a Master of Science in Environmental Engineering. When she’s not teaching or playing piano, you can find her exploring the outdoors with her family, experimenting with new recipes in the kitchen or ice skating at the local rink.
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Lifia Teguh
Portland
Lifia Teguh is a pianist, composer, and arranger whose passion is to make music that touches hearts and changes lives. She also serves as adjunct faculty at Linfield University and as a Graduate Teaching Assistant in Collaborative Piano at Portland State University, while also developing her private studio. As a classically trained pianist, she has performed in the United States, Europe, and Asia as part of the renowned summer festival Music Fest Perugia, G. Lettimi Conservatory International Master Classes, China International Music Festival, and Warsaw Piano Workshop. In summer 2016, she created INDspire – Inspiration for Indonesia, a campaign for equal rights in performing arts education, especially for impoverished classes. Her dream is to found arts and entertainment companies as well as schools of performing arts which provides full scholarships for underprivileged children and teenagers all over the world. She also teaches at Play It Forward, a non-profit organization that gives free piano lessons to the underserved communities. For more information and to listen to her music, visit her website: www.lifiateguh.com. INDspire: Inspiration from Indonesia, her Indonesian-fusion debut album, was released on September 9, 2020, on all streaming platforms.
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Tatsiana Asheichyk
Tatsiana Asheichyk is a virtuosic pianist, organist, accompanist, and experienced teacher with Russian musical roots. She has performed throughout the United States and Europe. Ms. Asheichyk has been playing the piano since she was five years old. Prior to coming to the United States, she completed two years of study at the Belorussian State Academy of Music under the direction of Dr. Igor Olovnikov. She has had the privilege of being coached by such renowned teachers as John Perry and Paul Polley. Ms. Ascheichyk was graduated from the School of Music in Minsk, Belarus, from the Brest State College of Music in Belarus, and from Southern Oregon University (with the summa cum laude distinction from all three institutions). In June 2016 Ms. Asheichyk earned her master's degree in keyboard performance under the direction of Dr. Alexander Tutunov (piano) and Dr. Margaret Evans (organ).
Ms. Asheichyk has been first prize winner among pianists and has been the scholarship recipient of the statewide Oregon Friends of Music Scholarship Competition 2012. During her college career, she received the Evans Music Performance Scholarship, the International Cultural Service Program Scholarship, the SOU Diversity Scholarship, the Schneider Outstanding Music Student Award, Farrold Stephens Scholarship, State Merit Lottery Scholarship, Margaret Fuller Endowed Scholarship, American Association of University Women Medford Branch Scholarship, AAUW Ashland Branch Scholarship, as well as the Soroptimist International Scholarship of Ashland. Ms. Asheichyk was chosen as a prizewinner of the American Protégé 2013 International Romantic Music Competition.
Ms. Asheichyk has performed at iconic venues such as the Oregon Shakespeare Festival’s Green Show, the Craterian Theatre, Belarusian State Philharmonic Hall, Walt Disney Concert Hall, and New York City’s Carnegie Hall.
Ms. Asheichyk’s peers have consistently recognized her accomplishments: “Tatsiana never fails to bring her best to every performance.” “She thrives on success and is determined to become the best pianist that she can be.” Dr. Alexander Tutunov has stated, "Undoubtedly, she is among the very top.”
Ms. Asheichyk was the accompanist for the SOU Concert Choir and Symphonic Band in 2010-2011. The conductor of the SOU Symphonic Band, Dr. Cynthia Hutton, said, “Tatsiana is an exceptional ... musician and accompanist, who is talented, hard working, serious, ready to collaborate.” Ms. Asheichyk has proven herself as an accomplished rehearsal and performance accompanist in the operatic world. She accompanied the 2011 Rogue Valley Opera in La Traviata and in the 2012 Ashland Chamber Music Workshop.
Ms. Asheichyk currently teaches piano at her Tatsiana’s Piano Studio in Ashland and Medford, OR. She is also the principal accompanist for Siskiyou Violins and is also the staff accompanist for Grace Lutheran Church in Ashland, OR.
Ms. Asheichyk plans on pursuing a doctorate in music in the very near future.

INAUGURAL COHORT

The inaugural recipients of the Tholen Fellowship at the 2015 PPI Summer Festival at Lewis & Clark College.
Standing from left to right: Rita Warton, Helen Jones, Mary Venard, Marsha Hall, Pat Daly, Christine Eggert
Seated from left to right: Jessica Treon, Kristen Thompson, Mary Lee Scoville, Michele Alspach, Tiffany Jefferson
Inaugural Cohort Master Teacher: Tatiana Ioudenitch
The first cohort of Tholen Fellows performed at their Celebration Concert at Southern Oregon University Center for the Arts on February 27, 2016.