About Me

Biography 

Dr. Gloria Tham-Haines is a Nationally Certified Teacher of Music and a member of the Music Teachers National Association. She is a current member of the Central Oklahoma Music Teachers Association and a Trust-Based Relational Intervention® Practitioner. She has taught privately for 20 years and loves working with students of all ages and abilities.

Born in Kampar, Malaysia, she started piano lessons at age five. She graduated from Southwestern College in Winfield Kansas, summa cum laude in 2002, with a degree in piano performance.  After her graduation from SC, she furthered her studies at Wichita State University and the University of Alabama, culminating in a doctorate in piano performance. 

          Since the fall of 2017, Dr. Tham-Haines has been adjunct piano professor of class piano at Oklahoma Baptist University. Previously, she has taught at Cowley County Community College in Arkansas City, KS; Southwestern Christian University, Bethany, OK; Oklahoma City Community College; and the University of Central Oklahoma. She has twice been the guest clinician and conductor for the Walnut Valley Piano Teachers Association’s piano ensemble festival, in 2012 and 2016.
          She is a national presenter on incorporating Trust-Based Relational Intervention® strategies to build a trauma-informed piano studio, presenting at MTNA and NCKP. She is also a part of the ergonomically-sized smaller piano keyboard international initiative and a private owner of a DS 5.5 Steinbuhler keyboard. 
          Besides teaching, she is also involved in music ministry, accompanying, performing, and adjudicating. She has been a church pianist since she was in grade school. She collaborates with the Mustang High School Choirs on a regular basis. Her other research and performance interests are in Chinese piano music and orientalism in Western piano literature. She has been invited to present her paper on the Western use of the Chinese folksong, “Jasmine Flower,” at the College Music Society in 2005. Her doctoral dissertation was on the influence of Socialist Realism in Chinese piano music during the Cultural Revolution under Chinese history professor, Dr. Anthony E. Clark.
          In addition to music, she is an active contra and ballroom dancer, enjoys photography, reading, and traveling. She is married to Patrick and is mom to Esther and Justin. They make their home in Edmond, OK, along with their Siamese cat. 

Teaching Experience

Instructor, Oklahoma Conservatory of Music, 2016- 

Adjunct Instructor, Oklahoma Baptist University 2017 - 

Private Piano Instructor & Collaborative Pianists, 1999 -

Adjunct Instructor, Oklahoma City Community College, 2016 - 2017

Church Pianist (Traditional and Contemporary), 1990 -

Church Pianist, Highland Hills Baptist Church, OKC. 2012 -2013

Adjunct Instructor, University of Central Oklahoma, 2014-2015

Adjunct Instructor, Southwestern Christian University, 2014-2015

Instructor, Camp Allegro Wichita. 2004-2006, 2011, 2018, 2019

Professor Creative Arts, Southwestern Christian University, Bethany OK.  2011-2012

Instructor Piano and Aural Skills, Cowley College, Ark City KS, 2009-2011

GTA in Music Appreciation and Musicology, University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa,2005-2009

GTA in Class Piano and Applied Piano, Wichita State University, 2003-2004

GTA in Class Piano, Kansas State University, 2002-2003

Music Minister, First Christian Church, Winfield KS 2001-2002

Accompanist, Winfield High School, Winfield KS 2000-2002

Ballet Accompanist, Cynthia Too Ballet Academy, 1998