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.
Posted on

5th Practice Competition

Every two years Dr. Rua’s studio holds a Practice competition, this year is our fifth one!  The competition is from September 29 to October 25, 2025.

The student with the “most practice” gets the title of “champion” and a prize of $150.

Here is the competition’s general information:

5th Practice Competition infoDownload

Starting September 29, start writing down in your sheet how many hours/minutes you practice per day. Parents must initial each practice session in the tracker in order for the times to count. Here is the link to the practice tracker:

Practice TrackerDownload

The winner will be announce the week after the event is done.

Each week during the competition there is a Newsletter with the latest news and leaderboard.

Newsletters:

Newsletter 1-5th Practice CompetitionDownload
Newsletter 2-5th Practice CompetitionDownload
Newsletter 3-5th Practice CompetitionDownload
Newsletter 4-5th Practice Competition ResultsDownload

Leaderboard:

Posted on

Studio Awards 2024-2025

As the piano studio’s year ends, let us honor the students who achieve a milestone and who were best prepared for each lesson during the school year September 2024 to August 2025.

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

Achievement Awards

Here are the students who achieve a milestone this past year:

Apprentice Trophy:

for beginner students that move into Early-intermediate level:

Krishna Vongooru

Skilled Trophy:

for intermediate students that move into Late-intermediate level:

Mai Nguyen

Anuhya Pallanti

Master Trophy:

for intermediate students that move into Early-advanced level:

Juste Kirieliute

Annual Awards

These awards reward mainly attendance and preparation for each lesson:

Student of the Year:

Each students 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:” 

Vivian Grannan

Distinguished Performers Trophy: (350 or more points)

Marcel Monnin

Distinguished Performer Gold Medal: (330-349 points)

Vivian Grannan

Amelia Hossain

Michael Wagner

Special Achievement Silver Medal: (310-329 points)

Patricia Perez Moreno Torres

Honors Bronze Medal: (290-309 points)

Curtis Grannan

James Henderson

Akanksha Pallanti

Posted on

Students of the Month, August 2025

For August 2025, the studio had two Students of the Month. They are Oliver Garcia and Vivian Grannan. They each earned this award with a score of 30 points out of 30.

Congratulations to both for their excellent preparation for each lesson and for their dedication.