OhioMTA 2024 Certified Teacher of the Year
Mayumi Kikuchi
Dr. Mayumi Kikuchi has been a faculty member since 2000 in the School of Music at the University of Akron. During the years 2001-2003, she served as chair of Keyboard Studies. She teaches applied piano, class piano, and keyboard harmony for piano majors, music majors, minors and non-majors. She has taught piano literature and pedagogy class for piano majors. In addition to teaching at the University, Mayumi has taught private students at her home. As her daughters grew older, she has increased her studio size, and maintains a small studio of 10-15 beginners to advanced students from young students to senior citizens. Some of her students have won or placed in the competitions such as OMTA Buckeye Auditions, Carnegie Hall American Protégé International Competition, Lakeland Civic Concerto Competition, OFMC Venetia Hall Piano Concerto Competition, Akron Youth Symphony Concerto Competition, Akron Children’s Society Scholastic Composer’s Contest, OFMC Scholarship Competitions and OFMC Composition Contest. Her students have participated in many community services including Akron Children’s Piano-a-thon, events for Stewart Caring Place (a cancer support center) while regularly performing at local nursing homes. Her students have participated in the Akron Youth Symphony and Cleveland Orchestra Youth Orchestra as pianists.
Prior to arriving in Akron, Mayumi taught piano at the University of Illinois, the University of Massachusetts at Boston, Winchester Community Music School, and Assumption College. She holds both Masters and Doctoral of Musical Arts in piano performance from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign where she studied under Ian Hobson. Other teachers include Fr. John Palmer c.s.v., William Browning, and Noriko Hikita. Dr. Mayumi Kikuchi hails originally from Hamamatsu, Japan, and attended Chuo University where she majored in English literature.
Dr. Mayumi Kikuchi has been active as a soloist and collaborative pianist, and has worked with many artists including the School of Music faculty, Akron Symphony musicians and Cleveland Orchestra members.