Deborah Sunya Moore

She/Her

Senior Vice President, Chief Program Officer

Executive Team
Programming

About Deborah

Deborah Sunya Moore, percussionist and arts educator, has a long history as an advocate of performing arts programs for youth and persons with disabilities. Deborah is currently the chief program officer/senior vice president for Chautauqua Institution and a national workshop leader for the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. She was awarded the designation of Fulbright specialist in arts integration from 2017-2019. Previously, Ms. Moore held the positions of arts education & community engagement specialist and associate professor of percussion at the University of Trinidad and Tobago (2010-2013). She served as the director of education and community engagement for the Louisville Orchestra 2004. She was the artistic director (1999-2005) and percussionist (1996-2003) of “Tales & Scales,” a nationally touring instrumental quartet for youth. With “Tales & Scales,” Deborah commissioned and performed “musictales” for thousands of children and families in schools and theaters, and with symphonies such as the Boston, Atlanta, St. Louis, Phoenix, and Indianapolis symphony orchestras. Deborah was selected for the Hermitage Artist Retreat 2013-2014 and became a speaker for the United States Department of State in 2014, representing the USA in Trinidad as a performer and speaker for Trinidad’s 2014 Arts & Disabilities Conference.

Deborah serves as an arts educator and consultant, having led Educator and Artist Training Workshops for organizations such as the Boston Symphony Orchestra, Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Florida State University, Oberlin Conservatory, Eastman School of Music, Cleveland Institute of Music, Boise Symphony, United States Marine Band and the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra. She has developed and taught longer arts integrated courses for classroom teachers for organizations such as the Kentucky Center for the Arts, the Kravis Center (Florida), and Las Vegas schools served by The Smith Center for the Performing Arts. Deborah was named a national workshop leader for the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in 2008. An arts advocate for her local community as well, Deborah was a recipient of the Women in Leadership Award in 2018 from Zonta Club of Jamestown (New York). She holds a bachelor’s degree in percussion performance and an individual major, performance and education in related arts, from the Oberlin Conservatory of Music. Her master’s degree in education curriculum and instruction is from the University of Cincinnati. Sunya is Deborah’s middle name, which she uses to honor her Korean heritage.

Why did you choose to work at Chautauqua? What do you like about working at Chautauqua?

Chautauqua encompasses so many of my personal passions, the largest being my desire for lifelong learning. From spirituality and literature to arts and fitness, so much of what I love is found within this community that exists both in physical place and online space. I run and walk and bike the grounds, I look to the Chautauqua Literary and Scientific Circle for book recommendations for both myself and my children, I wear and admire art from our galleries, I listen and learn within the Amp….the list goes on! I work here because I believe in our mission to explore the best in human values and I join so many in a shared aspiration to impact more people in increasingly meaningful ways within their life journey.

Current and Former Volunteer or Board Roles

• Board Member, Child Advocacy Program (Jamestown, NY)
• Advisory Committee Member, Partners in Education/John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts

Personal Interests

Yoga, running reading, daughter-wrangling