Sheryl Tjon loves the piano and music! Ms. Tjon has been playing the piano for four decades. Her musical experience began with the viola in the fourth grade. When her dad retired from the military, her family moved to a small town in northwest Minnesota that didn’t have a string teacher and she switched to the alto saxophone. She became intrigued with the piano after hearing a classmate play.

She taught herself to play simple pieces, and soon  started studying with a local piano teacher. Throughout high school she was the accompanist for the high school choir and small vocal ensembles, playing for concerts, district contests, and special events. She was selected as an accompanist for the district honor choir. She won solo piano and music theory awards in the MMTA (Minnesota) at the district and state levels.

She received a Bachelor of Arts in Music from Minnesota State University, Moorhead. She studied piano in Sweden with Benedicte Haid prior to attending the State University of New York (SUNY), Stony Brook on the National Student Exchange Program. Throughout college, she focused on her passion of collaborative piano, accompanying vocalists, instrumentalists, opera workshop, and the MSU-Moorhead festival choir. She has been active on worship teams in her local church, both nationally and internationally.

Ms. Tjon’s high school piano teacher launched her pedagogy career. Following college, her piano studio moved with her, including past studios in Mannheim, Germany; Norfolk, Virginia; Camp Lejeune, North Carolina; and currently in Jacksonville, NC.

Her past piano teachers include Dianne Thompson, Dr. Nancy Harris, Benedicte Haid, Dr. Hsing-Chwen Hsin, Dr. Terri Manno, and Dr. Peter Collins. From 2012 to 2019, she continued studying piano repertoire and pedagogy with the late Suzanne W. Guy in Norfolk, Virginia. 

Ms. Tjon’s professional affiliations include serving as Secretary on the Executive Board of the North Carolina Music Teachers Association (NCMTA). She is a member of the Music Teachers National Association (MTNA), and the MTNA local affiliate Cape Fear Music Teachers Association (CFMTA). 

Ms. Tjon also holds a Master of Arts in Theological Studies (2003) and Master of Divinity (2010) degrees from Assemblies of God Theological Seminary in Springfield, Missouri. She is an ordained minister with the Assemblies of God. Ms. Tjon values professional development and continuing education, and is in the process of completing the National Certified Teacher of Music (NCTM) certification through MTNA.  

She is the collaborative pianist with the Wilmington Choral Society in Wilmington, NC. She collaborates regularly with local high school choirs, vocalists, instrumentalists, & ensembles, performs at special events, and adjudicates for piano festivals and competitions. Ms. Tjon is the former staff accompanist for Coastal Carolina Community College, and former organist and choir director at St. Anne’s Episcopal Church in Jacksonville. 

When she isn’t teaching or playing the piano, she enjoys spending time with her family, Lily–their lovable & charismatic Puggle, reading, running, traveling, playing Trivia Crack, admiring the beautiful sunsets of eastern North Carolina, feeling sand in her toes from the local beaches, and watching Duke basketball. She resides in Jacksonville, North Carolina.

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