Rosemont Ridge Middle School

Myriam Gendron-Dupont

Born in Quebec, Canada, Myriam started piano lessons at age 4 and cello at age 8. Her love of music was apparent early on. Throughout her youth, she played with various orchestras in the greater Portland Metro area. Most notably, Myriam played in Metropolitan Youth Symphony’s top symphony orchestra for four years under the direction of Lajos Balogh, and began playing with the Portland State University Symphony her senior in high school. She studied cello privately with Beverly Lebeck and Hamilton Cheifetz. She began performing at church and teaching beginner students as a teenager, and her high school senior project was to start up and direct a string orchestra in her small town community of Vernonia.

Myriam always knew she would study music in college and follow a career path imbedded in the music world. She attended PSU on a full scholarship and earned a Bachelor of Arts in Music and a Masters in Education. During her college years, she started playing at weddings and other events and continued to give private cello lessons and tutoring in music theory. She obtained her teaching license and has worked over 14 years in the public education system, teaching elementary general music, elementary choir, middle school choir, guitar, French, and middle school orchestra.

Today Myriam lives in Oregon City with her husband and teenage daughter. She plays cello in community orchestras in Portland, teaches full time middle school orchestra and French, teaches private lessons, and still occasionally performs in weddings and other events. Her love of music continues to motivate her to practice, play well, and maintain her chosen career path.