Author: Dr Olga Rua

Dr. Olga Rua earned her Doctoral degree in Piano Performance and Pedagogy from the University of Iowa, her Masters' from the University of Toledo and her bachelors from the University of Antioquia (Medellin, Colombia). Dr. Rua has performed as a soloist and collaborative pianist in Colombia, Italy, Germany, and the U.S.A. In 2003 and 2004 Dr. Rua was selected to participate in Chatauqua Summer School of Music with full scholarship. In 2008 she won Distinguished Musician Award at the Ibla International Piano Competition (Italy) and in 2009 she was selected to take part of the Asolo Song Festival (Italy) as collaborative pianist. In addition to performing and teaching, Dr. Rua is an avid scholar of early 18th-century music, particularly the music of Carlos de Seixas (1704-1742), and the Spanish music of late 19th-century, mainly "Iberia" of Isaac Albeniz (1860-1909). In December of 2010, her D.M.A. Essay: "Historical Overview of Carlos Seixas's Works for Solo Keyboard," was published. In the Spring of 2016 she moved to Cincinnati with her husband and son. She joined the faculty of Cincinnati Music Academy in July 2016.
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Students of the month, September 2021

For the month of September, our studio had 6 students of the month! the Practice Competition has really inspired some serious practicing in the studio. We had 6 students with the highest preparation points for the month, they are: Helios Arias, Daphne Steele, Bob Reed, Marianna Gehring, Sarah Kelleher, and Tobin Kelleher.

Congratulation for their achievement!

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Studio Awards 2020-2021

As the piano studio’s year comes to an end, it is award time! Let’s honor the students who were best-prepared for each lesson during the school year September 2020 to August 2021.

Here are the students who received an award for their dedication and hard work last school year: 

Student of the Year 2020-2021

Each student earns preparation points for each lesson. The student with more points each month becomes “Student of the Month”; the student with this honor for more months during the school year becomes “Student of the Year.” 

For 2020-2021 the Student of the Year is: Sofia Arthur

Annual Awards

These awards reward mainly attendance and preparation for each lesson

Distinguished Performers Trophy: (350 or more points)

Tarini Narayan-Saran

Ahana Duggal

Sofia Arthur

Distinguished Performer Gold Medal: (330-349 points)

Helios Arias

Daphne Steele

Abigail Soares

Penny Cooper

Adi Duggal

Mathias Weil

Julia DiBenedetto

Willa Cooper

Special Achievement Silver Medal: (310-329 points)

Myra Sahay 

Anuhya Pallanti

Honors Bronze Medal: (290-309 points)

Diego Ramirez Guzman

Soren Fairfield

Saharsh Stanley

Gabriela Santiago

Sarah Kelleher

Tobin Kelleher


For specific guidelines for each award please visit: https://olgaruapiano.com/awards/

Congratulations to all awards recipients!



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3rd Dr. Rua Studio Practice Competition

Every two years, Dr. Rua Piano Studio holds a practice competition. The student that practices the most gets the title of “champion” and $150 in gift certificates! There are other prizes for other categories as well. Please see here the competition details and rules:

3rd Practice Competition infoDownload
Week 1 Newsletter: September 12-18Download
Week 2 Newsletter: September 19-25Download
Week 3 Newsletter: September 26-October 2Download
Week 4 Newsletter: The ResultsDownload

Here is a picture of our current leaderboard: