Rie Moore has taken a rather unusual path, involving many twists and turns, to get to where she is now as an accomplished musician!
As a pianist Rie studied from ages six to fifteen, followed by a ten-year gap, and then a return to music at age 25. During her extended hiatus, Rie studied international politics and economics at college and then worked full-time in Tokyo as a business professional which kept her very busy and left little time for her to pursue her musical interests.
After moving to Maryland in 2007 from Tokyo, our featured artist found time to rekindle her interests. Inspired by her experience at the Piano Festival by the River in 2010 at St. Mary’s College of Maryland (SMCM), Moore started to study with Brian Ganz, a laureate of the Marguerite Long Jacques Thibaud and the Queen Elisabeth of Belgium International Piano Competitions as well as a member of SMCM’s piano faculty. This was the beginning of a new chapter in Moore’s life and a re-dedication to her piano studies, which eventually led to the completion of a Bachelor of Arts in Music at SMCM.
Rie has created a multitude of unique musical programs to offer listeners new kinds of musical experiences.
Moore compares her musical program designing process to her past responsibilities which included being employed as a translator/ interpreter for Japanese and non-Japanese executives and designers. As an interpreter Moore states that she always had to dig deeper and go beyond the surface to make “real communications happen.” This same dedication is often reflected in her past and current musical programming. By carefully choosing her themes, Rie carries her presentations to vastly deep and profound levels far beneath the surface of what one may expect.
In September of 2021 our featured artist had a golden opportunity to share her work as a speaker at the TEDxGreatMills event. She also has two pre-recorded programs, Beyond Darkness, funded in part by St. Mary’s County Arts Council, and Decaying, funded in part by the Maryland State Arts Council. While Beyond Darkness invites the audience to imagine what may lie beyond darkness, her latest program Decaying explores beauty in what is decaying. Both programs as well as the TEDx event are available for viewing on Rie Moore’s website.
Moore was awarded the prestigious Individual Artist Award in 2020 by the Maryland State Arts Council and was recognized for her “promise and innovation” in piano performance.
Thank you, Rie, for being a valued member of our artistic community. We are very excited about your past and future endeavors and look forward to your upcoming events!
Learn more about our featured artist at the links below:
Website: Rie Moore
Link to Maryland State Arts Council/ Maryland Arts Directory
Photo credit: photo in main graphic – Reid Silverman. All other photos are by Nick Hughes.