Dr. Tyler Ramos

Director/Treasurer-Elect

A performance by award-winning multi-instrumentalist Dr. Tyler Flores Ramos is “deeply thought-provoking, colorful, and possesses an ethereal sensibility that can transport his audience to a state that is other-worldly” (Hawaiʻi Music Teachers Association). Dr. Ramos began his musical studies in 2002 at the Ellen Masaki School of Music with world renowned piano pedagogue Ellen Masaki on the piano and her daughter Nancy Masaki on the cello. Although he did not realize it at the time, Dr. Ramos was among the last of Ellen’s students before she passed away in 2009. After her passing, Dr. Thomas Yee took up Ellen’s mantle and mentored Dr. Ramos for eight years until 2017 when he graduated from the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa with his Bachelor of Music in Piano Performance. Continuing his education, Dr. Ramos studied with Dr. John Milbauer at the University of Arizona and graduated with his Master of Music in Piano Performance in 2019. Dr. Ramos holds a Doctor of Musical Arts in Piano Performance and Literature along with a Music Theory Minor and Arts Leadership Certificate from the Eastman School of Music where he studied with and was assistant to Natalya Antonova. In addition to his private teachers, Dr. Ramos has also studied with legendary teachers such as Nelita True, John Perry, Jon Nakamatsu, Alexander Kobrin, Alexander Gavrylyuk, Angela Cheng, Alvin Chow, and Sara Davis Buechner.

Dr. Ramos has been heard across the United States and Canada, and has been invited to perform in Portugal, Washington D.C., and Carnegie Hall. He has won top prizes at competitions such as the Music Teachers National Association and the Lois Trester Competition. He has also participated in prestigious music festivals including the Colburn School of Music Summer Program, the Chautauqua Piano Program, and the Piano Program at the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity. As a performer, Dr. Ramos has a passion for championing music by female composers and historic composers of color. Recent projects include his own arrangement of Clara Wieck-Schumann’s Romances Op. 22 for piano and cello and select tunes by the late Queen Lydia Liliʻuokalani in the style and tradition of Franz Liszt’s lieder transcriptions. 

Born and raised in Waipahu, HI, Dr. Ramos was involved in the music scene since he was seven years old. He has won local competitions such as the Hawaiʻi Music Teachers Association competition, Morning Music Club Scholarship competition, and the Mozart Festival. He also participated in local ensembles like the Hawaiʻi Youth Symphony and was Associate Principal Cellist of Youth Symphony I under the direction of Henry Miyamura. He has performed as a concerto soloist with the Hawaiʻi Youth Symphony with Henry Miyamura, Moanalua Symphony Orchestra with Elden Seta (where he was Principal Cellist at a Carnegie Hall performance), the Windward Symphony Orchestra with Aaron Mahi, and the University of Hawaiʻi Wind Ensemble with Jeffrey Boeckman. Dr. Ramos is also involved with local music organizations such Early Music Hawaiʻi, Sinfonietta Honolulu, Hawaiʻi Vocal Arts Ensemble, and with the Hawaiʻi Symphony Orchestra.

As an educator, Dr. Ramos has worked with over 300 diverse students, aged 4 to senior adult learners, from complete beginners to graduate students. He is currently on faculty at Punahou Music School, the Ellen Masaki School of Music, and is a lecturer at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa where he teaches applied piano and music theory. While in Rochester, Dr. Ramos worked with the ROCmusic Collaborative, an El Sistema music organization that provides a free music education to underserved and underrepresented youth in Rochester. Dr. Ramos is dedicated to preparing his students for a lifetime of music-making, and believes that anyone regardless of age or experience has the capacity to learn music given the right circumstances.