GUEST ARTISTS
OUR STORIES
LANZO LUCONI
FOUNDER & EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR UNITED STATES/COSTA RICA
Born and raised in San Jose, Costa Rica, Lanzo Luconi has been the recipient of multiple scholarships, competition prizes, and festival awards around the world. He has performed in prestigious concert halls of Costa Rica, Europe, and the United States, where he made his Carnegie Hall debut in 2008 and was honored with the International Outstanding Professional Artistic Performance Award.
He has been invited to perform in many notable events including the Scarlatti World Marathon, the Kosciuszko Foundation Winner’s Recital, and the 6th Musical Composition Seminar, where he performed music by Costa Rican composers. Other engagements include performances at MusicFest Perugia in Italy and with the World Youth Symphony Orchestra.
Lanzo belongs to one of the earliest generations of concert pianists from the Instituto Superior de Artes, the premier pre-college arts academy of Costa Rica. His formal music studies began under the guidance of Dr. Alexandr Sklioutivsky, Dra. Tamara Sklioutovskaia, M.M Ludmila Melzer, and Dr. Luis Monge. After completing his undergraduate studies at the National University of Costa Rica, Lanzo moved to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, where he obtained his master’s degree at Carnegie Mellon University under the guidance of the renowned pianist and professor Enrique Graf.
Mr. Luconi is a devoted educator, continuously making extraordinary efforts to provide top quality educational opportunities, proving the undeniable positive impact in our society. He believes that the talent and passionate dedication of young musicians must be celebrated and shared with audiences worldwide. His students have won numerous national and international competitions, scholarships, college auditions, festivals and special performances.
Beyond the stage and teaching studios, Luconi has a great passion for learning and developing new projects, continuously pursuing studies in the fields of psychology, pedagogy, communication, business, and entrepreneurship.
In 2014, Lanzo founded the Costa Rica Piano Festival, which is the first of its kind in Central America, created to provide international musicians with the best learning opportunities through lessons with world renowned artists, competition, solo and orchestra performances, and valuable seminars, while enhancing Costa Rica’s growing music culture. This successful initiative led him to create other successful international projects such as the Costa Rica Chamber Music Festival, Music Entrepreneurship Seminars and consult as a business and cultural advisor for several companies, music studios and independent events.
He has taught masterclasses and participated as a speaker in numerous events from prestigious institutions like MTAC, HSPVA Houston, Booker T. School for the Performing Arts in Dallas, Lone Star College Montgomery, University of North Texas and the Music Entrepreneur Conference at Harvard University. He is also a frequent guest in the world famous podcast The Authenticity Show.
Lanzo is a faculty member at the Opus119 Conservatory of Music and teaches privately in his home studio.
LUIS MONGE
ASSISTANT DIRECTOR
COSTA RICA
His career includes solo concerts and recordings with classical music and chamber music collaborations with recognized artists of modern Latin American music and Latin jazz. As a co-founder of the modern music and jazz quartet Swing en 4, he has recorded four CDs and has toured South America, Cuba, Canada, and Europe.
He has been continuously researching on African roots in the music cultures of the Americas, and obtained his Music Ph.D. in 2015 from the National University of Costa Rica. He was also the president of the Association of Composers and Authors of Costa Rica (ACAM) from 2009 to 2017 and is co-founder and board member of the Latin American Composers Alliance (ALCAM).
His compositions have received awards in Costa Rica and Belgium. He has ongoing audio productions with a variety of his piano solo compositions and other orchestral works.
Luis Monge is a Costa Rican pianist and composer with academic studies in Mexico, Costa Rica, Germany, and New York. Among his tutors are Karl-Heinz Diehl, Wilhelm Killmayer, Ludwig Hoffmann (Superior School of Music-Munich) and Gyorgy Sandor (Julliard School-NY). His early sensitivity and affinity for diverse Latin American music styles and jazz allowed him to develop, not only improvisation, but also arrangement and composition skills.
He has taught at universities in Germany, New Jersey, the United States, Costa Rica, and given master classes at universities in Guatemala, Mexico and Vilnius/Lithuania. Currently, Mr. Monge teaches piano and improvisation at the National University of Costa Rica and the Higher Institute of Arts. He is an active soloist, accompanist, and composer, as well.
VLADIMIR KHOMYAKOV
United States
Vladimir Khomyakov is celebrated by audiences and critics for his
extraordinary virtuosity, captivating artistry, and profound emotional
depth. Merging the rich traditions of Russian and American piano
schools, he infuses his performances with a unique blend of sensitivity
and passionate artistry. Khomyakov's versatile career spans roles as a
soloist, conductor, and chamber musician, collaborating with esteemed
symphony orchestras such as the Dresden Philharmonic, Houston
Symphony, Novosibirsk Philharmonic, and Ningbo Symphony, among
others. Renowned for his deep affinity for the Romantic and post-
Romantic repertoire, Khomyakov's interpretations of works by
Schumann, Chopin, Liszt, Rachmaninoff, Scriabin, and Prokofiev are
distinguished by their power, eloquence, and profound emotional
qualities, while staying faithful to classical stylistic canons. His
enthralling stage presence, imaginative interpretations, and remarkable
intelligence profoundly resonate with listeners, bearing testament to his
exceptional talent.
He was born in Kirovograd, Ukraine, into a family of professional musicians, graduates of the Odessa
Conservatory. Starting piano lessons at the age of four with his mother, Vladimir continued his studies at
the Rimsky-Korsakov State Conservatory in St. Petersburg, Russia with Alexander Sandler, Mozarteum
University in Salzburg, Austria with Dmitry Bashkirov, the Tchaikovsky State Conservatory in Moscow with
Yuri Martynov and Mikhail Voskresensky, and the University of Southern California Thornton School of
Music in Los Angeles, CA with Daniel Pollack. He emerged as a top prizewinner in prestigious piano
competitions, including the St. Petersburg Open (Russia), Anton Rubinstein (Dresden, Germany), Emil Gilels
(Odessa, Ukraine), Maria Canals (Barcelona, Spain), Jose Iturbi (Los Angeles, CA), Hilton Head (Hilton Head
Island, SC), Ima Hogg (Houston, TX), and many others.
Undertaking extensive concert tours across the globe, Vladimir has performed in Germany, Austria,
Belgium, Italy, Spain, Sweden, the Netherlands, China, South Korea, Russia, Ukraine, Mexico, Costa Rica,
Chile, Canada, and the United States. He is a regular guest at international music festivals such as the
Costa Rica Piano Festival, Holland Music Sessions, The Sounds From the Silk Road in China, and Ivo Petri
International Music Festival in Tuscany, Italy. In addition to his performing career, Khomyakov shares his
expertise as a visiting faculty member at Stetson University in DeLand, FL, and the University of Southern
California in Los Angeles, CA. He served as an associate professor at Saddleback College in Mission Viejo,
CA, and is frequently invited as an adjudicator for competitions and to conduct master classes across
Russia, China, Europe, Latin America, and the United States.
Ana María Orduz
Colombia
Instagram: @anaorduzpianista
Facebook: @anamariaorduz
YouTube: @anaorduzespinal2835
Pianist, educator and a committed advocate, Ana María Orduz is a key figure in the piano culture of Colombia and the region. Recognized for "her passion on stage, her great expressiveness, her extensive musical trajectory and her determination to create culture around the piano" (Yamaha), she is the founder and co-director of the Piano Festival of the Americas and the founder and director of the Pianissimo Foundation. With this non profit organization, she has established Concerts Series and the largest Piano Festival and Competition in Latin America, which in 2023 had more than 600 hundred pianists from 11 countries.
She has performed at Carnegie Hall in New York and has offered solo and chamber music recitals in Malaysia, Spain, Costa Rica, Chile, Panama, Italy, Singapore, Brazil, Colombia and USA. Ana María Orduz has performed as soloist with the University of Memphis Symphony Orchestra, the Medellin Philharmonic Orchestra, and the Eafit Symphony Orchestra, among others.
She received her undergraduate degree Suma Cum Laude from the University of Memphis (USA), and her master's degree and doctorate from the University of Iowa (USA). She is currently an associate professor at the University of Antioquia (Medellín, Colombia), and since 2017 she has been a Yamaha Piano Artist.
Pamela Beine
Costa Rica/Belgium
Since she started her path through music, Pamela has been recognized by her detail, her musical sensitivity and her way of communicating through music. Born in 1998, Pamela Beine is an belgian-costarrican international classical pianist and music teacher. She started her music lessons at the age of 5 under the Yamaha method. Later on, she coursed the Preuniversity Program from the National University of Costa Rica, under Dr. Alexandr Sklioutovski's direction and his team.
She coursed her carrier studies at the Conservatori Liceu in Barcelona, with Stanislav Pochekin. She graduated top of her class and obtained an excellence scholarship to study a Master Degree also at the Conservatori Liceu. Recently, she graduated from her Master Degree at the Utrecht's Conservatorium in the Netherlands.
Pamela has played international concerts and won several competitions around the world. In Costa Rica, she has played at the Salón Dorado, Eugene O'Neil Theatre, Auditorio Nacional, as well as the Foyer and Main Hall of the National Theatre. Internationally, some of the venues Beine's played are the Weil Hall in Carnegie Hall, New York, Barclay Theatre in Los Angeles, Jardi dels Tarongers and Sala Parés in Barcelona. Also, the Lithuanian Academy of Music in Vilnius, Lithuania, JM Fentener van Vlissingenzaal and Tivoli Vredenburg in The Netherlands. She debuted with the Kostromá Symphonic Orchestra in Kostromá, Russia, conducted by Pavel Gershtein.
Pamela is active as a soloist and as a chamber music musician. She founded the Beine-Margalef piano duo, which has been active since 2019 playing in venues around Spain. Beine has collaborated and received guidance by great musicians internationally. She has worked with institutions such as Musical Innovators, Intel, Yamaha and Q Foundation. Actually, she has been named CREA Ambassador. Pamela stands out as a musician with her delicacy and musical conversation.