Dr. Maria Mika Guénette

Phone: (903) 510-2561
Office: TBA
e-Mail: mgue@tjc.edu

Beethoven - Sonata
Op.31 no. 3, 4th movement
(4.79 MB mp3 file, sounds best with broadband)

Dr. Maria Mika Guénette began her studies at the age of eight and made her debut, at the age of fourteen, with the Windsor Symphony Orchestra. Since then, she actively participated in numerous solo and collaborative performances in Canada, USA, Japan and Austria including appearances on CBC radio, Japanese National (NHK) radio and more recently on WDAV radio in North Carolina. Currently, she performs in a duo for marimba and piano called the “Well-Tempered Keyboards” which is committed to exploring established works, as well as promoting new works for this genre. She is also a member of the East Texas Symphony Orchestra and Tyler Classical Consort. 

Maria’s skills have afforded her the opportunity to study around the world. She was awarded a Doctor of Music degree specializing in Piano Accompanying and Chamber Music with a minor in Baroque Performance Practice at the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, New York. During this time, she developed a special interest in exploring harpsichord repertoire, and as a result, she attained a Masters degree in Harpsichord Performance. Her mentors were Dr. Jean Barr of Eastman and Dr. William Porter of Eastman and Yale University. Maria possesses a Baccalaureate of Music in Piano Performance with a minor in violin, at the University of Ottawa under the tutelage of Jean-Paul Sevilla and Andrew Tunis. While there, she was a winner of the University of Ottawa’s Concerto Competition, as well as several academic and merit scholarships, including the Joseph-Marie Quirion Faculty of Arts Scholarship. In November 2007, Maria returned to the University of Ottawa to perform a solo piano recital for their Alumni Concert Series. Her Masters degree in Piano Performance was made possible with an all-inclusive grant by the Japanese Government (Monbusho) to pursue her studies at the Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music (Tokyo Geijutsu Daigaku).  Her specialization in Gabriel Fauré’s music took her to Paris, France to conduct research. Maria’s interest and skills in violin and orchestral music provided her the opportunity to participate in string quartets and orchestras, including being a guest member of the first violin section of the Kagoshima Symphony Orchestra in Japan.

Dr. Guénette joined Tyler Junior College as full-time piano instructor in 2006. She was previously on faculty at Winston-Salem State University, Greensboro College and the North Carolina School of the Arts.