Dr. Mei-En Chou, piano

With a mother devoted to choir practice and a father who regularly listened to a classical music radio, Mei-En Chou grew up surrounded by classical music and developed a passion for music and life. Seeking to inspire diverse audiences through performance and teaching, Dr. Chou currently maintains a private studio, teaches at Tallowood Academy of Fine Arts, and actively serves as a freelance pianist in the Houston area.

With the love of chamber music and traveling, she gives annual recital tours with duo MusiC² (with pianist Chiao-Ju Hung) in many states, and has shared the stage with distinguished performers, such as the MET soprano Tracy Dahl. She has played for NATS competitions, instrumental solo festivals, concerto competitions, and student recitals, and is always seeking opportunities for collaboration. Dr. Chou has also appeared as a soloist with the Dallas American Asian Youth Orchestra, the Greece Symphony Orchestra, the Red River Wind Symphony, and the Sun Philharmonic Orchestra. Her performance with the North Texas Wind Symphony of the Husa Concertino was released as part of the CD "Domains" in December 2008 (GIA Publications).

As a passionate teacher who always loves sharing music with others, Dr. Chou taught at Louisiana College (Pineville, LA) as an Assistant Professor and Artist in Residence from 2008-2016. For five years, she was the Director of the Junior Level of the Louisiana International Piano Competition. In addition to serving as an adjudicator for competitions and festivals, she has also taught at Calvary Conservatory of Music (Alexandria, LA), Heart & Soul Creative Arts Academy (Frisco, TX), and certified as a high school music instructor from the Ministry of Education (Taipei, Taiwan).

A native of Taiwan, Dr. Chou holds a doctoral degree in Piano Accompanying and Chamber Music at Eastman School of Music, under the tutelage of Dr. Jean Barr. She also attended the Collaborative Piano Program at the Aspen Music Festival and School in 2018. She earned her Master's in Piano Performance from the University of North Texas with Dr. Pamela Mia Paul, and received a bachelor's degree from National Taiwan Normal University. In her spare time, she enjoys traveling with her husband Henry Chen and observing the antics of their neighborhood ducks.

鋼琴─周媺恩

生於台北市。自四歲學習鋼琴，先後畢業於敦化國小、師大附中國中、高中部等音樂班；1999年保送甄試考上國立台灣師範大學音樂系。曾師事劉惠麗、蔡昱姍、劉本莊、蘇恭秀、蔡佩真、王杰珍、呂雪櫻等老師。師大畢業後，至五常國中實習及代課。曾任台北YMCA聖樂合唱團團員兼副伴奏。

2005年赴美國北德州大學（University of North Texas）音樂研究所深造，主修鋼琴演奏，師事 Dr. Pamela Mia Paul；副修伴奏，並修習指揮課程。就學期間獲助教及管樂團獎學金，並以鋼琴獨奏者與北德大管樂團演出協奏曲，錄製CD〝Domain〞。教學方面，除私人學生外，曾於恩典大道教會附設之音樂學校教授鋼琴，並數次擔任比賽或音樂節評審；亦為北德華人教會詩班指揮。

碩士畢業後隨即任教於路易斯安那學院，擔任鋼琴助理教授及駐校演奏家；以擔任伴奏活躍於校內外，並策畫及參加2010年該校聖樂合唱團到台灣短宣與訪問演出。任教期間亦為路易斯安那國際鋼琴比賽的青少年組比賽負責人，中路州及全美音樂教師協會會員之一，並取得全美及路州音樂教師認證。

周媺恩小姐於2020年取得伊士曼音樂院（Eastman School of Music）博士學位，主修鋼琴伴奏，師事Dr. Jean Barr，並獲歌劇伴奏之助教獎學金，亦為愛鄉及羅聲合唱團之鋼琴伴奏。曾受邀以獨奏者身份與達拉斯青少年亞裔管絃樂團、紅河管樂團、格里斯交響樂團、及陽光台北交響樂團等合作演出。周小姐目前於德州休士頓教授私人學生，同時任教於Tallowood教會附設之藝術學校，並受邀於各界演出。