Today we’d like to introduce you to Ekaterina Loudermilk.
Hi Ekaterina, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
I’m a pianist who grew up in Moscow, Russia. I came to Houston to study at the Shepherd School of Music at Rice University on a President’s scholarship. During my time at Rice I met my future husband Matthew Loudemilk. We got married right after graduating and decided to stay in Houston and start a music school. Russia is well-known for its high quality music education which is specifically focused on children. I have discovered that in America there is no institution which support professional music education for children and often times they get professional instruction only in college. If you look at world’s top level piano competitions you will see that many are won by 18-24 years old pianists at the top of their career … this is the age some of the American students only start their serious journey. Most of them will not be able to close the gap, their talents will not get a chance to blossom and their dreams will not come to pass.
Matthew and I dedicated our lives to creating a model for music education for young children in America. We started our music school, called International Music Academy, where we work with children and educate their families on the value of music education. In 2018 our school was invited to perform at the Carnegie Hall in New York. We gave two concerts at the Hobby Center and had the international students’ exchanges with Russia and China. Our won multiple national and international competitions and performed all over the world in the most prestigious venues. We host Teachers Training Seminars for local teachers on how to work with children.
I’m including the press release about our Anniversary Concert here, It has some info about our school and my bio
ABOUT THE ACADEMY
Matthew and Katarina Loudermilk started the International Music Academy in a two-bedroom apartment as young pianists fresh from the Masters of Music program at Rice University’s Shepherd School of Music. Twenty years later, the Academy has flourished and become a major force among Houston’s music education programs. Students of the IMA have won prizes in every major competition in Texas and have performed at prestigious concert halls in America and abroad. Recent concert opportunities for students have included performances at Carnegie Hall in New York, the Albert Hall in London, and Miller Outdoor Theatre, Hobby Center, and Jones hall in Houston. Students and teachers have also performed in the American Embassy in Moscow, Russia, as well as given a concert tour in China.
For 6 years IMA’s high-school duet teams represented the South Central division at the Music Teachers National Association National Competition and in 2022 the Dynamic Duo of Andrew Sun and Willian Fan received the Second Prize.
The strongest asset of the Academy is its Faculty: a group of 18 outstanding musicians who are passionate about sharing their art and skill with their students. Our mission is to invest in the youth of today and, through the study of the arts, change our tomorrow.
Katerina Loudermilk’s bio
Russian pianist Ekaterina Ryndina Loudermilk is a co-founder and director of the International Music Academy in Houston, which is revolutionizing the approach to children’s music education in Texas. Ekaterina (or Katarina) is highly sought after as a teacher and a speaker in varied musical settings. Together with her husband Matthew, they are hands-on directors: working with children and adults, training and mentoring young teachers and presenting at the TMTA conferences, all the while performing as duet partners in Texas and abroad.
Ekaterina’s students repeatedly win prizes in major state, national and international competitions. Notable achievements include: 2nd Place at MTNA in Senior Duet Category (2021) and national finalists (2015, 2016), 1st Place at TMTA Performance Contest (2015), Chopin Youth Competition (1st Place in 2013, 2nd Place in 2015, 2011), Blinn College Young Pianist Competition 1st and 2nd Place (2021), Houston Tuesday Musical Club’s Prodigy Competition (2nd Place in 2009, 3rd Place in 2017), Baylor Waco Competition 1st Place (2015), HMTA and Fort Bend Symphony Concerto Competition 1st Place (2021, 2020, 2019), Clear Lake Symphony Concerto Competition 1st Place (2014), Houston Young Artists, Texas State Piano Competition (1st place in 2019, 2013, 2nd Place in 2019, 2016, 3rd Place in 2012), Sonatina and Sonata Competition (Grand Prize in 2020), Music Doing Good, Kawai-SNG International Competition, and Rocky Mountain National Competition in Canada.
Her passion for cultural understanding and appreciation led Ekaterina to organize a student exchange program with a music school in Moscow, Russia for the past decade and China (2015-2017). As a part of The Russian Connection, Houston families hosted music students from Russia and gave several joint concerts around Houston. American students have visited Russia 3 times and performed with their Russian friends, including a recital at the American Embassy in Moscow. Ekaterina also founded and taught at the International Summer School in Prague, Czech Republic, in 2019.
In 2016, Ekaterina founded IMA Virtuosi, a non-profit organization designed to support outstanding pre-college music students by providing scholarships for lessons, instruments, professional travel expenses, high level performance opportunities and masterclasses with outstanding teachers. She has run the teacher training program at the International Music Academy for the past 16 years. The program helped many teachers to launch successful careers in music. Ekaterina has been chairman of the HMTA Performance Contest for the past 4 years and a member of HMTA.
Born in Moscow, Ekaterina started lessons at age 6 and had her Russian debut in the Bolshoi Hall of the Moscow Conservatory at 13. She has since performed throughout Russia and Europe including appearances at the National Art Museum and Rudolfino Hall in Prague and the Maliy Hall of the Russian Music Academy. Ekaterina was chosen to represent Russia in the Mlada Praha International Festival of 1996. In 2000, Ekaterina was awarded second prize in the International Music Competition of Val Tidone in Italy. In 2002, she graduated from the Gnessins’ Music Academy in Moscow, and the same year she received the President’s Scholarship to study at the Shepherd Schools of Music at Rice University with Dr. Robert Roux.
Ekaterina and Matthew continue to have an active performing career, both as soloists and duet partners. In 2012 they formed their piano duo which garnered recognition, receiving First Prize at the Alexander & Buono Competition in 2014. They have performed numerous times on KUHF Radio, and their Schubert Fantasy was featured on Houston’s PBS television station. In the summer of 2015 they toured China with their Rachmaninov program. In 2018 the International Music Academy Students and Faculty performed in Weill Recital Hall, at Carnegie Hall.
Ekaterina has been a guest lecturer for Piano Pedagogy and Career Development at Rice University and West Texas A&M University, conducted workshops on Performance Anxiety at Rice University and the University of Houston, given a presentation at Chuzhou University in China, a pre-concert talk for Society for Performing Arts in Houston, and presented at Convention on the topic of How to Make Private Teaching a Good Job and The Joy of Performing and PIano Technique.
Currently Ekaterina is working on formalizing and expanding their Teacher Training Program and finishing a book on Piano Pedagogy.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
It is not easy going forward, but very smooth when looking back. We are doing something unusual for musicians and something we haven’t been trained for, but it is fun and fulfilling.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I work with highly competitive young pianists. Matthew’s and mine students has won prizes in pretty must every competition in Texas. Our duet Team has won 2nd prize in the MTNA National Competition (the most prestigious event for high school students in the country) My professional specialty is working on piano technique and helping children and professional musicians turn their performance anxiety into their strength. I help professional pianists recover from professional injuries.
I specialize in putting intangible things into words – that what makes me an effective teacher of music;-)
I’m very proud of my kids (students) and honored to be the inspiration for their success.
Networking and finding a mentor can have such a positive impact on one’s life and career. Any advice?
I ask advice from successful people, I evaluate it and I follow it. If it works I go back and ask for more. I value my music mentors; Dr. Robert Roux a professor at Rice University, LIza Ginsburg and Maria Gambaryan- my professors from Russia,
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.theinternationalmusicacademy.com/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/theinternationalmusicacademy
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@loudermilkpiano9780
Image Credits
1. Matthew and I 2. Matthew and I playing piano duo (two pianists on one piano) 3. Our Faculty after the Concert at The Hobby Center 4. Our violin ensemble at the Hobby Center. 5. and 6. me teaching in our studio 7. After our student’s performance at the Carnegie Hall. 8. Matthew and I with the poster for our concert at the Hobby Center in the background 9. New duo in the making I need to ask permission to use the kid’s names. I have permission to use the image. 10. A group of students after our concert in China.
