The day before Tyler Nguyen performed at Carnegie Hall, he had his former UCS music teacher on his mind – the one who paved the way for him.

“I want to give thanks to the one who made it happen,” the GLK-UAIS graduate wrote on social media. “Ms. (Gaye) Hofer’s IB music class at UAIS was life-changing and it definitely gave me the motivation and skills needed to pursue my music outside of my career today.”

Nguyen, a credit analyst in New York after graduating from Columbia University, performed April 4 at Carnegie Hall with the Riverside Choral Society as a member of the chorus.

He initially enrolled in GLK-UAIS as a sophomore, moving specifically to Sterling Heights so he could enroll in the program after transferring from the British International School Vietnam.

“Tyler excelled in all subjects at UAIS, and in addition to his love for learning across all subject areas, he had a true passion for music,” Hofer said. “He came in as an already quite accomplished pianist and had many compositions under his belt.  He played the trombone in band, and his junior year he took the IB Music class, a rigorous course focusing on Music History, Music Theory, and World Music.  He was a star student in this class.”

At Columbia University, he double majored in Financial Economics and East Asian Studies. He performed with the university marching band, but his primary focus was being a member of the school opera club.

Also part of the Choral Society, but not performing at Carnegie Hall, is GLK-UAIS graduate Paul Hanna, who will be graduating from Columbia next month.