Ray Tang

Hi! I'm Ray, a pianist with over a decade of training. Since 2014, I've studied privately with Ms. Rowena Arrieta, a laureate of the VII International Tchaikovsky Competition, an inductee of the Hall of Fame of the U.S. National Piano Teachers Guild, and first-prize winner of the José Iturbi International Piano Competition in Spain. Under her guidance, I've focused on advanced Romantic repertoire, including Chopin's Ballade No. 1 in G minor, several Preludes from Op. 28, Liszt's Grandes études de Paganini No. 6, and Mendelssohn's Piano Concerto No. 1.

I've competed internationally since 2022. My awards include Gold at the International Euterpe Music Awards (2026), first place at both the International Berlin Classical Music Competition and the International Salzburg Music Competition (2025), Bronze at the Amadeus International Music Awards (2025), and second place at the American Protégé International Piano and Strings Competition and the International GCC The Art of Piano Competition (2023). In 2022, I placed third at the American Protégé Romantic Music Competition and was invited to perform at the winner's recital at Carnegie Hall in New York. I also earned scores of 97 (2023) and 100 (2024) at NYSSMA solo evaluations, and I performed my graduation solo recital in May 2026.

My musicianship extends beyond solo playing. I scored a 5 on the AP Music Theory exam (2025), performed an original composition with a flutist and violinist, and served as the NYSSMA accompanist for a violinist in 2024. I'm currently pursuing a Music Minor in piano at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.

Every student starts in a different place, so my first lesson is about listening. I have you play something you know, or work through a short passage together, so I can see your technique, reading, rhythm, and habits. From there we set clear goals, whether that's learning your first pieces, preparing for an audition, competition, or NYSSMA-style evaluation, or polishing a piece for performance.

Each lesson is built around diagnosing specific problems and fixing them with targeted practice. If a passage isn't working, we find out why: fingering, hand tension, rhythm, or a gap in understanding the music. Then I teach you a strategy to fix it, such as slow practice, hands separate, isolating tricky transitions, or practicing in rhythmic variations. The goal is for you to leave knowing how to practice on your own, not just what to play.

As a piece matures, we shift to the polishing stage. You'll play full run-throughs, working on musical shaping, pacing, and performance confidence, and I give feedback the way a coach would before a performance. I also bring in music theory, since understanding harmony and form makes pieces easier to learn and more expressive. I work with beginners through advanced students, and I'm especially well-suited to students interested in Romantic repertoire, theory, or competition and audition prep.