Ted Arthur


Music is Ted’s passion.

Ted has studied piano since, oh, about the same age that he began walking. A native of West Lafayette, Ted grew up in Purdue’s backyard. He has won numerous awards and piano competitions including the Keller Competition in 2000 when he performed with the Lafayette Symphony. In Washington, D.C, Ted made his Kennedy Center debut in 2010 with the National Memorial Day Choral Festival, accompanying Anthony Kearns, the world-renowned Irish Tenor.

As an assistant director at Purdue Musical Organizations (PMO), Ted served as the accompanist for the 50-member Purdue Varsity Glee Club. In addition to directing five smaller ensembles including the Kids Choir for the nationally-broadcast Purdue Christmas Show, Ted had the privilege of writing original works for the groups and creating fresh arrangements of familiar charts spanning a variety of genres. Among Ted’s original music is “I Stand Here Now,” written especially for a performance on the beaches of Normandy, France during PMO’s 2013 European Performance Tour. (Hear a demo recording of “I Stand Here Now” featuring RiteSong’s Cathy Russell, with additional vocals by Bob Mindrum and Ted, and produced at RiteSong Studios by John O’Malley on this page at Ted’s web site.)

In 2011, Ted became a published composer! His original composition “Imagine Christmas” and a new arrangement of “Drummer Boy” (based on the traditional “The Little Drummer Boy”) are both available at UNC Jazz Press.

Active in music ministry, Ted performed at St. Thomas Aquinas, the Catholic Center at Purdue University, with its Sunday 9:00a choir from 1999 (when he “graduated” from the children’s choir to become the youngest adult choir pianist in St. Tom’s 50-year history) through 2004 and again from 2009 through 2013 — and Ted still returns home to West Lafayette occasionally to play on special occasions like the Christmas Midnight Mass. Ted was also the pianist at two weekend liturgies (directing one of those two choirs) at the Catholic parish which serves the University of Missouri at Columbia, where he earned a dual degree in Music-Piano and Broadcast Journalism.

Ted now lives in New York City and works full time as a professional pianist in the theater district. All of us are incredibly proud to call Ted our friend and to have shared music with him for so many years! Whether he’s near or far, Ted will always be one of RiteSong’s lead pianists. Read more about Ted.