Dr. Rie Ando is a native of Japan who began studying piano at the age of three. She studied at the Toho Gakuen School of Music in Tokyo for nearly 19 years in the Children's Music Program, the High School Program, and at the collegiate level where she completed the Bachelor of Music in Piano Performance. She holds the Master of Music Degree in Piano Performance from Western Washington University where she was awarded the Ford Hill Piano Scholarship and the Margaret E. Hamstreet Music Scholarship; she also earned an Artist's Diploma from the International Workshop of Interpretation in Radzyn, Poland.
Dr. Ando moved to Washington State in 1998 and has since performed recitals throughout Poland, Japan, California, and Washington. In 2005, she was chosen as the recipient of the Helen Crowe Snelling Scholarship from the Seattle Musical Art Society. Additionally, she has won the Gold County Piano Institute Competition in Nevada City, California, the Bellingham Music Club Competition, the Western Washington University Concerto Competition, In 2000, and the University of Washington Mozart Piano Concerto Competition in 2007. Dr. Ando was invited to the Fermata Piano Institute in Gdansk, Poland. Dr. Ando earned her doctoral degree from the University of Washington in 2010 while studying with Craig Sheppard.