On the STC label she has released "Sheer Romance", a CD that's just a sample of what she loves to do.  The two songs on it barely scratch the surface of her diverse composing talent.  The new CD displays an eclectic group of seventeen pieces that truly expresses her many facets.  There are five ensemble pieces, six pop/vocals, and six piano solos, one of which was written by her daughter Stephanie Rogers-Collins.

When one asks Tish how she composes, she explains that she turns on the tape recorder and begins playing, and in an hour or so, never more than an hour and a half, voila!  She has created an instrumental that reflects what she may be feeling at the moment.  So how does she give it a title?  She says she lies back and listens to the recording and whatever she visualizes, that's what she names it.  There have been exceptions when she actually wrote an instrumental with someone or something in mind, but most of her piano solos flow from her fingertips without a specific theme.  Of course some of those piano solos have turned into spectacular orchestral arrangements which can be heard on her new CD "Through Her Eyes".

My Lady Publishing is also her creation, "My Lady" being a play on the English term milady.  All of her original compositions are being published under this name.

Throughout her school years she participated in many musical activities.  She began playing the clarinet in the fourth grade and still plays it today.  She not only played in the band, but also was a member of a clarinet quartet.

She played baritone saxophone in the high school dance band as well as concert band.  She says she'd like to take up either the alto or tenor sax sometime in the future.  Right now, her new hobby is the flute.

She was also the head majorette in the marching band her senior year of high school.  That year she won the John Phillip Sousa award, which goes to the person who has contributed the most to the band.  Her name can be found on a plaque in the band room at her alma mater, Scio, Ohio.  On her teaching piano, she has her own little trophy that bears a medallion with the bust of John Phillip Sousa.

She not only sang in the high school choir, but accompanied it as well.  Since a small child, she has always had a passion for music.  She recalls her first public performance at age ten.  Instead of taking a bow, she walked off the stage with her finger in her mouth.

She is grateful to her sisters for putting up with her practicing each day at 6:00 a.m. before going to school. After eleven years of classical training on the piano with several teachers and all of them being men, Tish says that each gave her a bit of something that the others didn't, making her studies with each, special and unique.  Her teacher throughout high school was very encouraging and inspirational.  The first professor with whom she studied required that she spend a half hour of her daily six hour practice sessions developing her photographic memory.  She says that it has been invaluable in many other areas of her life besides assisting her in memorizing music.

It was the second professor who made her realize that she did not want to become a classical concert pianist.  His demands were much greater.  She was required to practice eight to ten hours per day, which she did, for approximately one year.  It was at that time that she decided the music was no longer fun and had become very hard work and there was no freedom to truly express herself. 

So, she converted over to contemporary music and put together a repertoire.  She has done the traveling thing and has many stories to tell as she has been in the same room with celebrities or had near misses with them.

Once while playing at the Walthall Hotel in Jackson, Mississippi, a Russian gentleman, who was a part of Mikhail Baryshnikov's party, placed a tip in her jar and commented, "You are a dream weaver."  She says that was the nicest compliment she has ever received.  Thus, the name of this site and her slogan, "Tish Your Weaver Of Dreams."

After many years of performing standard/popular music as well as her own compositions, at restaurants, clubs, hotels, and piano bars, she now aspires to that childhood dream of sharing her own music with the world.

Even with her busy schedule of teaching, composing, and performing, she still finds the time to volunteer once a week at a local nursing home by playing for the residents in their dining room during the lunch hour.  She says by doing this, she gains just as much pleasure as the residents receive by listening.  She tells of a little lady with whom she has become friends, who has always come to the dining room to hear her play.  But recently she has been sleeping through lunch time.  So Tish made a cassette recording of her music and gave it to her along with a walkman to play it on.  She now has an excuse to visit her new friend a couple of times a week to help her with its use.

Tish may be a late bloomer, but her friends call her the invincible one because she has overcome many obstacles in her life.  As she pursues her dream, she knows and realizes what it is like to have the doors slammed in her face by the big guys, but she refuses to allow that to stop her.  It is these experiences that make her stronger and more determined to one day help others who wish to make their way in the music world.  You may follow her career by visiting this website frequently.
 

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Obtained from: tyWorld Online