Eduard performs in 2003.

Eduard performs in 2003.

Raised in South Texas, Ruben Eduard was just 4 years old when he picked up his first stringed instrument. By the time he was a freshman in high school, he was playing viola professionally for a local symphony orchestra. “From there I went to the University of North Texas in Denton to pursue a degree in music performance,” says Eduard, a global educator for Artistic Nail Design who also works at Polish Fine Nail Salon and Wet Canvas Nail Bar in Austin. He quickly established himself as a solid performer in the classical world and performed all over the Dallas/Fort Worth area.

Ruben Eduard

Ruben Eduard

“I was honored to be able to perform with The Turtle Creek Chorale numerous times. I even played with them on a CD recording that won a Grammy award,” he says. During summers spent at Interlochen Center for The Arts in Interlochen, Mich., he performed with an array of great artists that included Ani DiFranco, The Beach Boys, Chicago, Natalie Cole, and B.B. King.

Eduard’s talents and interests took him far and wide. At one point, he spent a year in Copenhagen. “I performed in cafes and did a few chamber music concerts there,” he says. Once back in the states, he settled in New York City for 10 years. “I did the Broadway thing for a bit, as well as playing in a few local symphony orchestras,” he says.

Following his passions eventually led him to other pursuits, like photography and, of course, nails. But he still plays a great deal. These days, he spends most of his time on an electric five-string violin, occasionally performing in bands in the Austin area.

“Music always has been, and always will be a way for me to express myself, lose myself, and have a creative outlet,” he says. “Music and the viola have taught me a lot about life and setting/reaching goals. I spent more than eight hours a day practicing to perfect my skills in the viola world. In everything I do in my life, I work hard to reach the level that I did with music.”

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