Songwriter · Composer · Music Educator
Meet
Ro Myra
An award-winning songwriter, recording artist & educator who draws on a background in psychology, counseling & student-centered education to create personalized learning environments where students discover their artistic voice, build confidence in their own creative abilities & develop a lifelong relationship with music.
Founder · School of Music with Ro + Friends
Artist-led education
A songwriter teaching from lived creative practice
Ro teaches creativity from inside the work itself. She writes, arranges, records, releases, and performs original music—and brings that active artistic practice into every student's course of study.
Her teaching connects strong musicianship with imagination. Students may learn piano, guitar, voice, theory, improvisation, songwriting, recording, or performance, but the larger goal is always the same: to help each person become a thoughtful, independent musician with a lifelong relationship to music.
Because the curriculum is individually designed, students can build skills through music they genuinely care about while receiving the structure, feedback, and creative challenge needed to grow.
Selected recognition
Songwriting honors
Ro's original work has received recognition across folk, Americana, pop, and jazz songwriting.
2026
New England Songwriting Competition
Two songs recognized: Keeping Hope Alive in Folk/Americana and Drive Me Away in Pop.
View the official winners list →2023
John Lennon Songwriting Contest
Finalist in the Jazz category for Wrong Thing, co-written with Nina de Vitry.
View the official finalists →2019
Woody Guthrie Folk Festival
Songwriting Competition Honorable Mention for the original song Irene.
View the official contest archive →Selected experience
Creative work beyond the lesson room
Original albums & releases
Writer and recording artist behind Nowhere, Nebraska and Keeping Hope Alive, with professional studio experience spanning songwriting, arrangement, production, recording, release planning, and performance.
Producer & audio engineer
Produced and engineered broadcasts from Interlochen Center for the Arts, including performances by the World Youth Symphony Orchestra and other summer ensembles.
Residential arts education & student support
Supported young artists within Interlochen's intensive residential summer environment, building early experience in arts education, student development, and creative community.
Volunteer songwriter, Words & Music
Contributes professional songwriting experience to an arts-education program that helps students experience the process of creating original music.
Teaching foundation
A deeply student-centered educator
Ro's music teaching is informed by years of work in Montessori education, public education, adult learning, intercultural development, and creative mentorship.
- Founder & lead educator
School of Music with Ro + Friends, serving children, teenagers, adults, and emerging artists. - Teach For America educator
Selected from 47,900 applicants; students achieved an average 2.8 years of writing growth in one academic year. - Spanish Montessori teacher
Lincoln Montessori School, Lincoln, Nebraska, 2007–2008. - Adult-learning instructor
Taught digital marketing to MBA students and business founders through General Assembly in 2020.
Education
Graduate study in education, counseling & human development
Master of Arts in Intercultural Youth and Family Development
University of Montana · 2013
GPA: 4.0
The program was later renamed Global Youth Development. This interdisciplinary graduate program was housed in the Department of Counselor Education, with coursework spanning counseling, social work, psychology, and cross-cultural youth and family development.
Master of Education
University of Missouri–St. Louis · 2013
Completed in connection with service as a Teach For America educator, with graduate preparation in curriculum, instruction, assessment, and student learning.
Bachelor of Arts
University of Nebraska–Lincoln · 2008
Double major: International Relations & Spanish
Minor in Psychology. Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholar & Dennis Washington Horatio Alger Scholar.
Selected public work & verification
Interlochen Public Radio archive · Selected music press · 2026 songwriting recognition · 2023 JLSC finalist listing
School of Music with Ro + Friends
Personalized music education for a lifetime of music
Ro welcomes curious children, teenagers, adults, and emerging artists who want rigorous, joyful, completely individualized music study in Missoula or online.
Applications are accepted and reviewed on a rolling basis. Enrollment is intentionally limited.