Sheri Stoner-Harris

Sheri Stoner-Harris has been an active prize-winning piano studio teacher for over 30 years. Her pedagogical ideas have helped numerous pre-collegiate students excel and realize their natural talents and gifts. Sheri earned a Bachelor of Music in Piano Performance at Centenary College of Louisiana on full scholarship, where she won the Aria/Concerto competition and received Outstanding Junior and Senior Music Major awards. She continued graduate study at Louisiana State University, earning a Master of Music in Piano Performance. At both Centenary and LSU, Sheri studied under Constance Knox Carroll.

From 1997 until 2001, Sheri taught at Centenary College in their pre-collegiate piano department. During her time there, she developed and implemented an additional theory program for the department. Since 2013, Sheri has served the Middle Tennessee State University music department as a member of the adjunct piano faculty.

Sheri has served frequently as an adjudicator at festivals and competitions of all ages and levels,including Spring and Fall MTNA state events in Alabama. She has been an active member of MTNA and NFMC for over three decades. Sheri has served in leadership roles in the local Middle Tennessee MTA—including 14 years as Auditions Chair, several years as Vice President, and two years as President. Twelve years ago, she founded PianoFest (held each November) for MTMTA to provide opportunities for a broader base of piano students to perform. From its first event, PianoFest has grown from 30 students to almost 100 this pastNovember. She was honored to receive the prestigious (MTNA) Tennessee Music TeachersAssociation Teacher of the Year in 2023.

Sheri’s students have earned state-level MTNA distinctions (winners, runners-up, and honorable mentions) across Louisiana, Missouri, and Tennessee, first-place prizes at the Chattanooga Piano Competition, and most recently at the 2026 Knoxville International Piano Competition. Her students have also been successful applicants and scholarship recipients for the Tennessee Governor’s School of the Arts, invitational piano camps, and collegiate pianoprograms. She teaches all levels, paying particular attention to early foundations—believing that beginning stages are crucial—while also preparing advanced students for conservatoryand university auditions.

Personal note: My main focus in my career has been on pedagogy. I stepped away from performing to raise my three children for the bulk of my career. I look forward to honing my skills and challenging myself to get back to performing at PianoTexas!