MS. NANCY
From 2007 to 2020, Nancy was an active presenter of The Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music (ABRSM) and a member of the American College of Musicians' National Guild of Piano Teachers (ACM - NGPT). From 2009 to present, she has been an active member of the Music Teachers' Association of California (MTAC), serving on the board of MTAC's Pasadena Branch as a Director before serving on the board of the Orange Coast Cities Branch as a Director and the Bach Festival Chairman. Ms. Nancy attained her Bachelor of Arts in Piano Performance from UCLA in 2008 and Diploma in Piano Performance from ABRSM; London, England in 2002. As of July 2024, Ms. Nancy has been teaching for seventeen years, playing for thirty-four years, and is now serving families in Irvine, California.
Nancy Shao-Terrell attained her B.A. in Piano Performance at UCLA's Herb Albert School of Music under the tutelage of Dr. Walter Ponce and Dr. Jennifer Snow. During her time at UCLA, she advanced her performance training as the solo pianist in UCLA's fifty-piece Wind Ensemble under conductor Dr. Thomas Lee's direction, an active instrumental collaborator under Dr. Jennifer Snow's guidance, and an active community performer in Gluck Fellows Music Performance Outreach Program. Additional noteworthy performance trainings include UCLA Chorale, UCLA Chorus, and a solo jazz collaboration of Leonard Bernstein's Prelude, Fugue, and Riffs with top UCLA instrumental soloists.
After years of exploring various performance groups, Nancy took on the challenge of piano teaching in her hometown of Arcadia, California. She built up a full studio that scored top marks in the Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music exams (ABRSM), the Certificate of Merit exams (CM), and the National Guild Piano Auditions (NGPA). Judges and fellow teachers of these state, national, and international music associations have recognized and applauded Nancy's ability to create strong foundations for her students, a key component in excelling progressively well into the advanced levels of music.
Nancy's love of finding creative solutions to challenges has created a strong momentum for her studio. With consistent encouragement to grow and change, she has successfully led beginner students through the elementary, intermediate, and advance levels of piano and music theory. Her students have won top prizes in international and local competitions and scored the highest honors in international, national, and state exams. Ms. Nancy credits meticulous and healthy team effort with families for her students' awards and achievements.