Teaches in Texas

From San Antonio, Texas

Plays and Piano

About

Christine Ryktarsyk is a professional teacher with 33 years of music experience. She started playing piano at 7 years old and 5 years later, she was teaching herself and several neighborhood kids! In high school, she played piano for the choir, for school musicals and for services at her church. She earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Education at the University of Delaware, where she was also commissioned into the US Army Reserves. Then she moved to Nebraska and taught elementary school and piano lessons for 7 years. One of those years was interrupted by Operation Desert Storm, when her reserve unit deployed to Saudi Arabia. She was the Camp Supply Officer and she also played keyboard for chapel services.

Christine met her husband during the war. She gave up teaching and the military to follow him as his military career took her and their 4 children around the globe. In each duty station, Christine found piano students, taught for school music programs, led youth bands, and played piano for rehearsals, church services and other events. She has worked with students aged 3 to 83 in Nebraska, Hawaii, North Carolina, New York, Texas, Colorado, Virginia and Maryland. She taught music for the SKIES Unlimited program in Heidelberg and Kaiserslautern, Germany, where she was recognized for her ”dedication, musicology and mastery,” especially during the COVID-19 crisis, where she initiated virtual learning classes, thereby promoting a positive image of the CYS organization. She also received the Doctor Mary Edwards Walker Award and was commissioned a Yellow Rose of Texas.

Christine, now living in San Antonio, continues to teach and is pursuing a certificate in therapeutic music. She tailors her teaching methods to the goals and learning style of each student, incorporating the skills of sight reading, playing by ear, and memorization so that students can progress to become independent learners.