Richard Shuster, D.M.A.

Associate Professor of Music

Piano Coordinator  

Richard Shuster is a versatile pianist who has performed throughout the United States and abroad.  In recent years he has appeared at the Marco Polo Festival in Querceto, Italy, the Dorothy McKenzie Price Piano and Master Class Series in Toledo, Ohio, the Westside Houston Recital Series and the Cornell University Summer Concert Series in Ithaca, New York.  He was a featured guest on “Music of the Metroplex” on WRR Classical 101.1 FM, Dallas/Fort Worth with host Kevin Sutton.  Other performing highlights include the Hochschule der Künste in Berlin, Germany, The Jamaica School of Music in Kingston, Jamaica, and the Texas Tech University School of Music in Lubbock, Texas.  He performed Belá Bartók’s Sonata for Two Pianos and Percussion at the Texas Music Teachers Association 2005 Annual Convention with Dr. Leslie Spotz in San Antonio, Texas.  Dr. Shuster’s performance of George Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue on the CD American Tapestry was released on the Naxos label in April, 2008, with the Lone Star Wind Orchestra, Eugene Corporon conducting. 

Dr. Shuster is a dedicated pedagogue and mentor to a diverse class of talented piano students majoring in piano performance, piano pedagogy, liberal arts, music therapy and music education.  In 2007, Dr. Shuster served as the chief examiner and teacher for the International Piano Pedagogy Examination Committee, and he was a guest teacher at Mukogawa Women’s University in Hyogo, Japan.  His sixteen years of professional teaching experience began as a faculty member of the Young Pianists Program at Indiana University. Dr. Shuster’s approach is student-centered, integrating naturalness in technique, injury prevention and healing, sound quality, style, professional development, and an overall holistic approach to piano teaching that guides students toward achieving their goals.  Dr. Shuster also teaches piano pedagogy and piano literature seminars and coordinates the class piano program at TWU.