Rising Stars: Meet Tonya Prince Pruhs

Today we’d like to introduce you to Tonya Prince Pruhs.

Hi Tonya, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstories with our readers?

Ever since I was in elementary school, I loved to teach others. I love the feeling of explaining things to someone and they get that “ah-hah” moment. In 4th and 5th grade specifically, I made my unfinished basement our school room for the neighborhood kids.

I had chairs and tables and I made worksheets for them to do and we had books to read. I had them create their own books and do art projects too because I loved drawing and wanted to have an art curriculum.

We had recess on my front lawn and lunch or snack time, it was very fun for me. In high school, I had parents in my neighborhood that wanted me to teach their children piano. I was a blooming pianist at the time so I took on the challenge. So at age 15, I started doing what I would end up doing the rest of my life. I always do everything 100% so I taught my beginning students the best way I could with private lessons, group classes, and recitals.

I played the piano and violin and I even started on the organ with my high school Seminary asking me to play on the organ for graduation as a Junior and Senior. I told them I didn’t know how and they took me to an organ nearby and let me teach myself how. Ever since then, I’ve played the organ in every church ward I’ve belonged to for the past 40 years. People always say I have a magical touch on the organ and piano.

I went off to college on full piano and academic scholarships to Utah State University. I studied with Gary Amano who was an amazing teacher whose students won national and international competitions. I was given many opportunities while I was there to be in charge of all recitals for the Piano Conservatory, I got to teach the Gifted Theory Classes in the Conservatory and create the curriculum for it. I helped with scheduling and decorating for the yearly Piano Competition hosted by the Conservatory, conducting and playing in the yearly “Monster Concert” with 15 or more pianos on the stage, and many more experiences.

I kept my full scholarships while earning my degree and I also received a second degree in Elementary Education because it was a great program at USU. I was the first person in both sides of my family to graduate from college, I earned a dual major in Piano Pedagogy/Performance and Elementary Education. I received “Teacher of the Year” in 1991 for the USU Piano Conservatory and I also won 2nd place in the annual USU Concerto Competition. It’s a competition for piano majors and pretty competitive. I worked hard for that award.

I also received a memorable comment from Professor Gary Amano after performing my Senior Concert, “you just set a new standard for Senior Concerts.” That’s an amazing comment from my mentor because he gives positive comments sparingly. I eventually got married and teaching piano worked well while my husband finished school. I basically taught piano every year with a full studio to help with family income. I would start teaching when each of my newborns was only 4 weeks old!

I kept wanting something more in my life though. My mind always thinks big and I always have entrepreneurial thoughts.  I wanted to make more money and we all know that teaching anything is not the way to wealth, so I ventured into Real Estate and earned my license in 2007. Unfortunately, this is when the housing bubble burst and I never got to sell a home. I loved real estate and still do but I continued with piano teaching at the time. A few years later I went back to school for a Paralegal Degree. I love studying law and I loved the law classes. I received a 4.0 at Ensign College and was excited to enter the Legal field.  Unfortunately, I graduated one month before Covid was announced in our country so everything shut down so I didn’t pursue a paralegal job, I stuck with my teaching job.

By this time, my piano studio students had accomplished many things over the years. I was a member of the Utah Music Teachers Association UMTA for over 30 years and the National Federation of Music Clubs, and a National Guild member.

My students had won awards in many state piano competitions and two students made it to Carnegie Hall by placing in a national competition. They had just moved on to study with professors and they went on to be piano majors. I enjoy getting students ready for competing, that is my favorite thing. I’m naturally competitive and I love helping my students get prepared for competing.

My biggest accomplishment in my music career was starting the Salt Lake Piano Competition. I realized there weren’t enough piano competitions throughout the year for all the students in Utah.  The universities had events and competitions that weren’t open to outsiders, you had to be an alumnus to participate. I wanted a competition on a neutral ground that was very honest and fair. There wasn’t anything for many types of music students. Competitions were only for the very talented that practiced many hours a day. There are hundreds of students in Utah that are very good pianists but they can’t commit to that much time to the piano so I founded this new competition myself. I designed it so there are three playing levels for all ages so they will compete with students of similar level and age. I also had it all online. There was no other competition like this that I knew of that had payment and sign up online (this was in 2010), and also had levels to choose from, and you could enter multiple pieces, perform in recital format so they can hear each other, have the award ceremony directly after playing instead of returning later in the day, and smaller groups so more potential winners. I basically took all things from other competitions that I did not like and I took it out of this new competition.

The competition has been a huge success. The first year we had 100 participants and now 12 years later, we always have around 350 participants. Many teachers and professors look forward to this competition every year in May and even when my life had many hard challenges going on, I kept it running every year no matter what, except during Covid. In 2020 I had to cancel the competition which was very hard to do, it would have been our 10th Anniversary! In the year 2021, I had the competition virtually with students submitting recordings of their performances. It worked out well but it’s much better in person.

I think I should accept teaching as my calling in life. I will stop looking for something else because teaching is a very rewarding career and we don’t teach for the money, we teach for the rewards. Everything in life keeps directing me towards teaching.

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?

The biggest challenge that really got in my way of teaching was going through a divorce. My ex decided to leave unexpectedly one day in late 2012 after 20 years of marriage.  I was left with three children to take care of and find carpools for everything they did, paying the bills, keeping my studio up, starting a new business, and losing our home. Yes, I said new business, I had just designed and opened a new Music School for our community called The Music Studio, which was my dream! Doors were open only 3 months before this happened.

I couldn’t believe it was happening! Since I stated before that I always think Big, I wanted to teach students music, but I wanted to offer more for the community so I wanted a full school. I hired 20 teachers to teach all types of instruments, some art teachers, and a creative arts preschool teacher. I had big plans and I wanted to offer music scholarships to deserving children in the community. I found retail space in West Jordan, a great location, I got to use my design skills and watch it get built out with a stage for recitals and soundproof teaching rooms, and an art room.

We had fun modern colors of purple, blue, and grey. I was so busy with this project that when my husband left, I couldn’t even take time out to figure things out, and to process what was even happening in my life, I had to keep things going. I lost my business partner with him leaving. I was the marketing director, the talent scout, the human resource department, the scheduling secretary, the interviewer, the construction designer, the phone secretary, everything. I loved it but it was on top of teaching my own private piano students, being a single mom, running a household, worrying about bills for the family and the school. It was a crazy time.

I STILL held my annual Salt Lake Piano Competition in May 2013 at the same time as going through divorce mediation in May, selling our house in May, preparing for moving and relocating the family, and getting things figured out for summer for the music school. I don’t know how I got through it.

Eventually, after moving my family to the east side of the valley and my school on the west side, I had to make the decision to close my school after only 1 and 1/2 years before I even got to see how it would grow. I couldn’t do it all. It was very devastating. I worried what my music colleagues would think of me starting up a music school and then closing it down.  I felt very defeated, betrayed and lost.  Why would I work so hard starting a music school only to close it down shortly after?

I had to tell the teachers that I had just hired the news of closing and they were shocked too. I offered some of the teachers to move over to a location close by so we could save the students we had just started. I had 12 teachers and myself move down the street to teach while I spent a few years disassembling my business. That process was very difficult also, but I had to be strong. I had to drive by my abandoned school every day. Moving to another very small location, we still taught guitar, voice, piano, art to students.  The music school had private students and guitar classes and some art classes. My dream came and went and I was so exhausted from all of it, I became clinically depressed.

I could hardly function. I STILL had to keep my private studio going because I had to pay bills. I would have loved a few months off for a mental break, but couldn’t. With having such a shocking divorce process and all I went through being in the “fight or flight” mode constantly for five years, I physically developed a lot of problems that I live with now. I had severe depression back then and recently again in 2019 when I attended a treatment program for 14 weeks. I continually struggle with depression and anxiety. I also have complex PTSD from my childhood and also the past 10 years of painful experiences.

After court proceedings with my ex, I had a TIA stroke at age 46. I was lucky it didn’t affect my hands so I can still play beautiful music or my speech so I can still teach others. I also developed bladder cancer and in 2020 at the beginning of the Covid pandemic, doctors removed a large tumor. I also had ovarian cancer surgery the same year. I had three major surgeries during 2020.

Right now I’m just trying to find things to be grateful for and trying to take care of myself mentally and physically. Also just trying to have the energy I need to continue teaching for many years.

Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?

I think the reason why parents love my piano studio business is that I am responsible, I communicate well to my clients, I am reliable, I am talented and can perform at a high level to help my students, I handle the business side of my studio well, and I am fair to all. The reason why my students love my piano studio is that they can tell that I truly care about them and I want the best for them.

I am hard on them and push them when they need pushing, but I also am reasonable about things. Each student has their own abilities and talents and their own circumstances and I am able to work with that so they all feel fairly treated. I have fun with my students but I also expect a lot from them. I want them to learn life skills.

I have families that move out of the city where the studio is and they still travel to my studio. They drive 30-45 minutes each way for weekly lessons. I’ve had families that move out of state that tell me they can’t find anyone as good as me so they feel sad. That makes me feel good, but I’m sure they will find another great teacher somewhere! When I moved from Logan, USU to Salt Lake City in 1997, I had some of those students try to keep having lessons with me each week.

They didn’t want another teacher! This is a 90 minute drive each way. I was very impressed that they were so loyal, but it lasted a few months and got too hard for them. I appreciate their effort. Today I still have a couple of families that I started 17 years ago. I’ve taught all their children and it’s been a lifelong journey.

About three years ago, one of my students that I taught in Logan in the 1990s found me in Salt Lake and wanted to have lunch. My memories were of her being a little girl and I was married with a child at the time. But when I realized we were only 12 years apart, I agreed and we’ve been best friends ever since. I have taught all 4 of her children and now she has started back having lessons herself.   It’s so awesome when I am teaching children of my previous students!  I’m even starting to teach children of my previous students’ children!

What would you say have been one of the most important lessons you’ve learned?

My personal life has been full of many bumps and twists and turns and devastating losses, abandonment, and abuse. But the one thing that has remained stable is my piano studio. Pruhs Piano Studio or Pruhs, Inc has been with me through everything.

I have learned that I can’t predict anything or expect my plans to come out as expected in life. I can make plans and goals, but I realize it can change at any time. This I learned from experience. I don’t think we should give up on our goals and dreams, but realize that there might be a different outcome and that it is ok. I wouldn’t think of myself as successful, only because I’m not wealthy and not all of my dreams came true, but so many people that I meet and have been part of my life say they are blown away at all that I’ve endured and accomplished in life and how strong I am.

I have a hard time seeing what they see, but I appreciate the compliments. The mentors that helped me this past decade always said I was going through the “refiners fire” with so many obstacles in my life. I know that the Lord has been by my side and helped me through my hardest, darkest times and that He gave me this talent of music that I have been able to use as a career my whole life and as a single mother.  Little did I know when I was in elementary school teaching in my little classroom that I would be teaching hundreds of students in my lifetime.

I am grateful for this and I hope to be a little old lady of 100 still listening to my students perform for me each week and bring me joy. We can’t give up on our dreams because of someone else’s choices and actions.

Contact Info:

• Email: tonyapruhs@gmail.com
• Website: www.pruhspianostudio.com
• Facebook: Tonya’s Piano Studio
• Other: www.saltlakepianocompetition.org