Welcome to TIAMOYO Arts and Education
tia moyo (TEE-ah MOY-oh)
Swahili: to encourage; from the heart
...if it is encouraging, let him encourage...
Romans 12:8 NIV
Tiamoyo Arts and Education is a multi-dimensional company that provides inspirational
and educational products for children and adults through the use of the musical and performing arts and various educational methods, including Tiamoyo Music Academy, live performances
(Tiamoyo Duo and Tiamoyo Chorale), workshops, presentations and a variety of published materials, including printed music, books, and music CDs. Sharon Brown Cheston, Ph.D., proprietor, is a pianist, choral conductor, Contemporary Gospel/Christian singer/pianist, educator, composer, ethnomusicologist, author, and Women's Mental Health Advocate/Motivational Speaker. Dr. Cheston received her Ph.D. degree in Music Education from the Case Western Reserve University/ Cleveland Institute of Music Joint Music Program. She received her training in Suzuki piano and Suzuki theory curriculum/pedagogy from the Cleveland Institute of Music, where she served on the Suzuki Theory Faculty from 2003-2009 and currently is Music Theory Faculty, Academy, at the Cleveland Institute of Music.
Sharon Brown Cheston, Ph.D. received a Bachelor of Music Education degree from Baldwin-Wallace College Conservatory of Music, a Master of Music degree in Music History/Ethnomusicology from Cleveland State University, and a Doctor of Philosophy degree in Music Education from the Case Western Reserve University/Cleveland Institute of Music joint music program, where she received the Graduate Dean’s Instructional Excellence Award in Recognition of Providing Outstanding Primary Instruction as a Graduate Assistant. She pursued additional graduate studies in music theory at the Cleveland Institute of Music. Dr. Cheston completed music theory curriculum and pedagogy training at the Cleveland Institute of Music with Jennifer Conner and served on the Cleveland Institute of Music Preparatory Department Sato Center for Suzuki Studies Music Theory Faculty from 2003-2009. She completed her Suzuki piano teacher training at the Cleveland Institute of Music with Katherine “Kiki” Monsour Barley and is a registered Suzuki piano teacher, with a Dalcroze Eurhythmics Enrichment endorsement. Her piano teachers include Andrius Kuprevicius, James Tannenbaum, Robert Mayerovitch, Gary Graning, and Claracy B. Kimbrough, including piano pedagogy with Evelyn Gott. She studied organ with Adeline Huss and Cleavon O’Neil. Her music theory studies were with Alvaretta West and James Feldman. She studied composition with Ed London, Bain Murray, and Eugene O’Brien. She studied ethnomusicology with T. Temple Tuttle. Music mentors include “Al” Madison, Elsie Banks Mescudi, William Woods, Finley A. Lanier, Jr., and Pemberton Steele.
Fulfilling her life-long dream, Dr. Cheston performed as keyboardist with the Cleveland Orchestra in 2025. The Ivy-Cheston Piano Duo was featured as guest performers with the Cleveland Philharmonic Orchestra, performing compositions for two pianos, four hands and orchestra, with the orchestra performing one of her arrangements and orchestrations. As a collaborative pianist, she has performed in concert with Cleveland Orchestra violinist Mark Dumm and other notable musicians. She has performed on piano in theater orchestra pits, including Karamu Theater, Cleveland Playhouse, and at NightTown and other venues with Reggie Pittman, trumpet.
Dr. Cheston has lectured on the topics of African-American Gospel Music Piano Accompaniment Performance Practices and Music in Worship, and has held numerous choral music and other positions in universities, public schools, and churches throughout northeast Ohio. She has served as adjudicator and guest conductor at choral festivals and vocal and instrumental contests.
Dr. Cheston’s composition, Song For A Lyre (original vocal version), received its world premiere performance at the Cleveland Institute of Music on April 30, 2025, performed by Julie-Michelle Manohar, soprano. As an Artist-in-Residence at the Cleveland School of the Arts, she composed music scores for mainstage productions performed in the Playhouse Square Entertainment Center, including Chicken Little, which received the Cleveland Critic’s Circle Carolyn Reid Award for Educational Theater and The Northern Ohio Live Magazine Award of Achievement in Theater. She also composed the children’s worship songbook series, Praise with Pizzazz: Contemporary Praise Chorus Scripture Songs Volumes 1 and 2 and numerous compositions.
Dr. Cheston’s piano student had the incredible honor of performing in the 2024 101 Pianists with Lang Lang Concert.
Currently, Dr. Cheston teaches piano at Tiamoyo Music Academy. She serves as Rehearsal Assistant for the Cleveland Orchestra Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration Chorus, and in 2025 served as Rehearsal Pianist for the Conductor’s Rehearsal. She is an Academy Music Theory faculty member at the Cleveland Institute of Music and a Cuyahoga Community College Vocal Arts Mastery Program summer faculty member. Dr. Cheston is pianist for the Tiamoyo Duo, with Dr. Stephen Sims, violin and viola, and Music Director of Tiamoyo Chorale, which performed in Reinberger Chamber Hall at Severance Music Center. She is a guest pianist/organist in churches throughout northeast Ohio, and a member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc.
MEMBER OF:
Suzuki Association of the Americas (SAA)
Music Teachers National Association (MTNA)
National Association for Music Education (NAfME)
Ohio Music Education Association (OMEA)
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In 2025, Tiamoyo Arts and Education celebrates its
23nd. Anniversary!
