Ruth Shyu
Pianist, Teacher, Composer
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I started piano lessons with a neighborhood teacher when I was six. After several relocations, I fortuitously met Ms. Cheng, a strict but extremely encouraging teacher. Under her guidance, I fell in love with the music of Bach and Mozart, and began to develop a passion for playing. Throughout high school, I played in competitions, recitals, and often served as an accompanist. Those activities gave me much joy and a sense of identity.
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My first college degree was in computer science. But I continued to study the piano on the side. Music seeped into my engineering work. For a lab project, I built a digital music synthesizer. My graduating thesis was about music notation on computers. When I finished my studies, I performed Beethoven’s “Emperor” Concerto with my college orchestra - the MIT Symphony. It was one of the most gratifying experiences for me.
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After working for a number of years in the information technology field, I decided to change career to music, and metriculated at Berklee College of Music with a scholarship. Berklee rounded off my classical piano training with an exposure to jazz, improvisation, composition and arranging. I also completed a full year of piano pedagogy training under Jean Stackhouse at the New England Conservatory to prepare myself for teaching piano.
After graduating from Berklee in 2001, I began to teach at private schools and community music schools. As I received more validations, I started my own studio. In a few years, my students started to win competitions and earn meritorious recognitions on their piano exams. By 2012, I have steady referrals by word of mouth in my neighborhood.
In 2016, I relocated to Los Angeles for family reasons. I taught at Opus119 School of Music in Irvine and the Cerritos Yamaha Music School before settling in Cerritos where I have my current private teaching studio.
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I continue to upgrade my skills and knowledge by attending teacher conferences and workshops, and through readings and personal research. I believe that teaching is an art, and there is no limit in learning an art.
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A big part of my music career besides teaching is composing and arranging. In 2002, the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (The Emmy Foundation) gave me the Music Internship honor - an annual award for screen-writing at a national level. The award gave me a valuable opportunity to work with Alf Clausen (composer for “The Simpsons”) and Jonathan Wolff (composer for “Seinfeld”, “Will & Grace”, “Reba”, etc). In 2004, I received an ASCAP award for some of my jazz piano compositions.
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From 2007 to 2020, I devoted most of my writing to Christian worship music. This includes a number of instrumental arrangements of traditional hymns, original music for adult and children’s choir, and a children's musical. Much of these were used in services at Park Street Church in Boston. More recently, I am writing teaching pieces for piano beginners.
You can find out more about my composing work by visiting Ruth Shyu Music.
