Composing a career on piano

Aim high. Shoot for the stars. Dream big.

For Lynn Tredeau, a 1979 Cloquet Senior High School graduate, her reality is living out a dream bigger than she could have ever imagined.

Tredeau is a professional solo piano artist and composer who now resides in Idaho. She grew up in Cloquet and was known then as Lynn DeRocher before marrying Al Tredeau. Her music falls into the contemporary instrumental category or solo piano instrumental category, a style of music also known as mindful music.

"I could have never imagined as a little girl, sitting at my piano, where I would be now," said Tredeau.

Her award-winning music has earned her a host of major awards including Solo Piano Album of the Year from the Zone Music Awards (two times), Best Holiday Album of the Year by Enlightened Piano Radio, and her 10th album was named Best Solo Piano Album from New Age Notes Radio.

Tredeau's recordings have reached many additional milestones: No. 1 in Amazon Relaxation Music; No. 3 on the Amazon Hot New Releases Chart; No. 1 on One World Music Radio and Enlightened Piano Radio and No. 1 on many radio stations around the world. Her original music plays on SiriusXM's Spa Channel, and air travelers can hear her on Delta and Hawaiian Airlines flights. You can also hear it streaming in many spas and salons across the country through a programmed overhead music service.

"I was that weird kid that loved to play music," Tredeau said. "It never felt like work so I would say I never really 'practiced,' I just played a lot. There always seemed to be a thought that I could play a song a little better if I played it another time or that I would hear something new in the music, so play it again."

Growing up

Tredeau started taking piano lessons when she was about 5 or 6 years old. Her mother found a piano teacher around the corner in her neighborhood near Washington Elementary School, and Tredeau continued for 10 years with that instructor.

"Every music teacher inspired me and encouraged me," said Tredeau. "My piano teacher was wonderfully strict about understanding what the music was trying to say. Not just playing the notes correctly, but hearing the story behind the music. I still hear her in my head when I am creating something new, asking 'What is the music trying to say?'"

On most days throughout her elementary and junior high years, Tredeau had some sort of music lesson or group to attend.

She began learning flute during elementary school and soon after added the clarinet through the Cloquet school band program. A neighbor had a saxophone that wasn't being used, so Tredeau decided to learn how to play it on her own. She also took guitar lessons and learned the pipe organ at the Presbyterian Church in Cloquet.

Tredeau said one of her favorite childhood memories was playing the piano in the basement of her family's Cloquet home when her mother would yell down the stairs "I love that one ... play it again, please!" Playing in the Cloquet Senior High School Marching Band was another happy memory, especially during parades on Cloquet Avenue. She also recalled fireworks in Pinehurst Park, picnics at Jay Cooke State Park, skiing at Mont du Lac, and seeing her first big screen movie at the Chief Theater as favorite memories of Cloquet.

Career moves

The decision to record her own original music came with no expectations other than to be for her own enjoyment and to play for family and friends. Earning four Solo Piano Album of the Year awards was something that never entered her mind. Other "pinch me, is this real" experiences along her musical journey include taking the large stage on a cruise ship and the time she performed on a gorgeous piano at the Grand Ole Opry.

"I usually describe what I do as being a solo piano artist and composer," Tredeau said. "I love the creating music side of the music business. I try to spend as much of my time doing that as I can, but the business side of creating, recording and releasing music is the part that IS the job.

The best part of what I do is when I hear from fans about how a song helped them through something difficult or brings them calm after a stressful day."

Tredeau began releasing her recorded music in January 2015, producing 10 albums and numerous singles over the past nine years. She has collaborated on several projects with other musicians, including an album with flutist Monica Williams that charted on the New Age Billboard rankings.

Tredeau released two albums on an Arizona-based record label, Heart Dance Records. Most of her music is self-released and she gets an assist from a promotion company that works to add her music to the online and modern music outlets like airlines and Music Choice.

Favorite things

Tredeau has a long list of talented artists who have influenced her music, including Ludovico Einaudi, David Nevue and Liz Story. She claimed a love for listening to music from the 1970s and 1980s. Journey, the Little River Band, and Toto are common choices when relaxing and just hanging out. Tredeau also curates selections for several Pandora stations and Spotify playlists, so her personal listening tastes and knowledge covers a wide variety of musical genres.

"My first big influence for my original creations was Michele McLaughlin," Tredeau said. "I fell in love with her style and I had taught her music to my students for years. I was thrilled to hear her perform in concert after we moved to Idaho. Fast forward to now, we have become great friends and have performed together many times."

Tredeau has done some touring and traveling to perform.

"I have had the privilege of performing in some beautiful places, but my favorite is when I perform a house concert," Tredeau said. "There is something so special about that interaction with the audience when they are close to the piano."

She admitted that it had been around 20 years since she had been back to Cloquet to visit, but she welcomed the idea of returning to the area to perform in concert.

"I create music for the pure enjoyment of expressing myself," said Tredeau. "Music is a big part of who I am and I will continue to create music until my last breath. I often close my concerts with 'Music isn't music until it is shared, so thank you for coming today and allowing me to share my music with you.'"

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Cloquet alum is a chart topper

After growing up in Cloquet, Lynn (DeRocher) Tredeau and her husband Al Tredeau, originally from the Michigan Upper Peninsula, have moved nine times in 41 years and just started the process of move No. 10. They have lived in Duluth and Hermantown, then Alaska and Washington, and currently reside in Idaho. They have three adult children and two grandchildren. Her brother, John DeRocher, lives in Duluth.

After her children moved away from home, Tredeau dove into making her music career a full-time gig. She started teaching a few piano students and she ended up teaching for the Anchorage School District through their home school network. She would travel to student's homes for lessons and the school district paid her. After moving near Seattle, her private music studio grew to about 40 students. Many of her former students attend her concerts when Tredeau is touring in the Seattle area, and she has performed special-invitation house concerts at a former student's house.

"Trying new things has been a part of my life motto, 'How do you know if you don't try?'" explained Tredeau. "I loved every moment of being a mom and every moment of being a teacher. I get myself in over my head all the time with new projects I take on, but I guess I love the challenge of learning and growing beyond where I thought was possible."

Tredeau has also produced a long list of music videos featuring her music and spectacular landscapes and natural places. Her original compositions are published as sheet music for aspiring musicians to learn and play.

Tredeau releases her music on all the regular online streaming and download sites, including Pandora, Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music, and others. Sirius XM's Spa Channel added her music to their song list several years ago and you can hear her songs in the onboard programming of many airlines like Hawaiian Airlines, Delta and Flynas Airlines in Saudi Arabia.

You can also find her music, videos, sheet music and more information at her website https://lynntredeau.com/