Tiffany Ou-Ponticelli

Tiffany Ou-Ponticelli teaches orchestra at Henry M. Gunn High School in Palo Alto, CA. Ms. Ou-Ponticelli holds a master's degree in Music Education from the University of Michigan, and a B.A. in Music Education with a minor in Applied Developmental Psychology from the University of California, Los Angeles. In the UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music, she studied viola with Richard O’Neill, and received her teaching credential from the UCLA Teacher Education Program. As co-director of the Henry M. Gunn High School Orchestras, Ms. Ou-Ponticelli has led ensembles to perform at national conferences including the Midwest Clinic International Band & Orchestra Conference (2022) and American String Teachers Association (ASTA) National Orchestra Festival (2018). Her ensembles regularly receive highest marks at California Music Educators Association (CMEA) Festivals.

Ms. Ou-Ponticelli currently serves as President of the California Orchestra Directors Association (CODA). She also serves as Web Editor for the California Music Educators Association (CMEA) Bay Section board, where she also served as Orchestra Representative from 2018-2022. Ms. Ou-Ponticelli has presented at state and national conferences including ASTA and CASMEC, and has been a member of the AST Journal Editorial Committee. She was the recipient of the 2023 CMEA Richard L. Levin Orchestra Educator Award, and the 2022 CMEA Bay Section Outstanding Orchestra Educator Award.

Ms. Ou-Ponticelli is an active string teacher, violist, and vocalist in the San Francisco Bay Area, and is also the co-host of the string education podcast “Band Meets Strings”. In addition to her orchestral background, she sings with San Francisco-based vocal ensemble Musae. Ms. Ou-Ponticelli holds a Level III Orff Certification from the San Francisco International Orff Course and is an advocate for incorporating Orff pedagogy in the secondary ensemble setting. Her research interests lie in musical self-efficacy, repertoire diversity, group composition, and solfege for instrumentalists.