Grant Event - The Mighty Wrist
2026-04-10 10:45 - 12:15 (America/Los_Angeles) | Studio of Renee Dugan, 526 NE Rimrock Ct, Redmond, OR, 97756, United States
Presenting District: Central Oregon
Presenter: Dr. Stephen Lewis, NCTM
Program Description: This talk is an in-depth look at the wrist motions involved in piano playing (lateral, up-down, elliptical, rotational, drawer, and stationary) and how they help various techniques and textures we often teach or play. Dr. Lewis will explore how and why these motions are so crucial to piano playing, and provide knowledge and flexibility to the teachers present in how to make your own determinations regarding teaching using the wrists.
Presenter Bio: Dr. Stephen Lewis, NCTM, is a pianist, composer, conductor, and music teacher living in Portland, Oregon. Stephen performs traditional piano music with a composer’s urgent, expressive power, while bringing to avant-garde and experimental music a classical concert pianist’s devotion to beautiful sound.
Stephen has performed with the Oregon Symphony, 45th Parallel Universe, Third Angle, Fear No Music’s Young Composers Project, the Portland Chamber Orchestra, and Cascadia Composers. He has performed in venues such as the Walt Disney Concert Hall, Miller Theater, Severance Hall, and the San Diego Museum of Art. As a composer, Stephen has been commissioned by Red Fish Blue Fish, Diagenesis Duo, the Wellesley Composers Conference, and soundSCAPE.
Stephen teaches private piano and composition lessons from his home studio in southeast Portland. He also coaches professional musicians, music teachers, and composers in learning advanced repertoire and skills and in completing major creative projects.
Stephen earned a D.M.A. in Contemporary Piano Performance in 2017, and a Ph.D. in Composition in 2015 from the University of California San Diego. He is a graduate of the Oberlin Conservatory of Music (Composition and Piano Performance) in 2006.
Read more at his websites: chopinois.com (teaching) and stephenlewiscomposer.com (artistic).

Grant Event - Mexican Harmonies: Exploring Piano Repertoire from Mexico
2026-04-14 10:30 - 12:00 | 1825 Lance Way, 1825 NW Lance Way, Corvallis, OR, 97330, United States
Presenting District: Linn-Benton
Presenter: Melissa Terrall, M. M.
Program Description: From Tomás León and Guadalupe Olmeda to José Rolón, Melissa presents profiles and representative works of notable Mexican composers. Drawing on her experience as a Fulbright scholar in Mexico City, she will showcase the diversity of Mexican piano repertoire – from salon pieces to folkloric music – while also discussing common misconceptions about Mexican classical music. Attendees are sure to leave more knowledgeable about Mexican composers as well as inspired to interact with their music in a culturally-robust way as teachers and performers.
Presenter Bio: Melissa Terrall is a classical pianist and piano teacher from Portland, Oregon. As a 2023-24 Fulbright scholar, she studied Mexican piano repertoire with Dr. David Rodríguez de la Peña at Mexico City’s National Conservatory. While abroad, Melissa offered lecture recitals and master classes, expanding her skills in her second language. Melissa holds a master’s in piano performance from the University of Kansas, where she studied with Dr. Scott McBride Smith. A passionate educator, Melissa has held interim professorships at Clark College and Linfield University in addition to overseeing her private piano studio.

Grant Event - Masterclasses
2026-04-26 13:30 - 16:45 | Shepherd of the Valley Church, 1631 8th St, Hood River, OR, 97031
Presenting District: Mid-Columbia
Presenter: Dr. Alex Tutunov, NCTM
Program Description: Dr. Tutunov will work with piano students in a master class setting while the audience is invited to learn by observing.
In two sessions: 1:30 to 3 PM, and 3:15 to 4:45 PM.
Presenter Bio: Alexander Tutunov is widely recognized as one of the most outstanding virtuosos of the former Soviet Union. First Prize winner of the Belarusian National Piano Competition and winner of the Russian National Piano Competition, Tutunov’s playing was described by Soviet Culture, Moscow, as “exhilarating and inspired, and which demonstrated a unique talent.”
Dr. Tutunov maintains a busy performing schedule in Europe, China, Mexico, and the United States as a recitalist, soloist with orchestra, and on radio and television. Dr. Tutunov is also in demand as an adjudicator for piano competitions.
Tutunov graduated magna cum laude from the Central Music School of the Moscow Conservatory (studies with Anna Artobolevskaya and Lev Naumov) and University of North Texas (piano studies with Joseph Banowetz). Awarded his doctoral diploma with honors in concert performance from the Belarusian State Conservatory, Dr. Tutunov has taught at the Minsk College of Music, the University of North Texas, and Illinois Wesleyan University.
Alexander Tutunov now lives in Ashland, where he is Professor of Piano and Artist in Residence at Southern Oregon University. A successful piano pedagogue, he continues to prepare award-winning students. Dr. Tutunov has been the Artist in Residence at the University of Alaska Southeast, Artistic director of the SOU International Piano Institute, and the Director of the Chinese-American International Piano Institute in Chengdu, China.
