Kellie Cunningham, M.M.E., NCTM, is a doctoral student at the University of Southern California Thornton School of Music and adjunct faculty in piano and piano pedagogy at The Master’s University. Throughout her years at TMU, she has co-directed the TMU Piano Kids program, adjudicated for the annual Piano Festival and the High School Choral Festival, taught in the annual Songs of Summer vocal summer camp, been a vocal coach and assistant director for the TMU Theatre Arts department, co-directed the Women’s Chamber Choir, and taught group piano, collaborative piano, and piano ensemble in additional to individual lessons and piano pedagogy coursework.

Along with her work at TMU, Kellie oversees a 300-voice children’s choir program at Grace Community Church in Sun Valley, CA. As a nationally certified teacher of music (NCTM), she has been teaching piano lessons since 2000, and currently maintains a private piano studio in Valencia, CA. She received her Master’s degree in Music Education, with an emphasis in Piano Pedagogy, from the University of Oklahoma and was awarded B.A. degrees, summa cum laude, in Communication and Music from The Master’s University. She has received numerous awards, including the Faber Endowed Music Award from the University of Southern California, the California Association of Professional Music Teachers Member of the Year, the Margorie Martin Caylor Scholarship Award and the Gail Boyd de Stwolinski award for Excellence in Teaching, and an Outstanding Service Award from the Frances Clark Center for her work for the National Conference on Keyboard Pedagogy. Additionally, Kellie was a solo vocalist on a Grammy-Award-winning album for children. She has also presented both nationally and internationally on piano pedagogy topics.

She is a member of the Music Teacher’s National Association (MTNA), the Music Teachers Association of California (MTAC), the International Society for Music Education (ISME) and the National Association for Music Education (NAfME). Kellie is committed to seeing music education as a means to instill a love for creativity and beauty in her own life and the lives of her students, ultimately as a reflection of her Lord Jesus Christ.