Luis Angel Rivera Garcia, Piano
Teaching at:
- 4220, rue Drolet, Montréal
- Plateau Mont-Royal
Luis Angel Rivera began his musical studies at the age of 7 in Toluca, his hometown. He then enrolled at the Conservatorio de Música del Estado de México, where he completed the undergraduate program in piano performance under the guidance of Mercedes Pons. After two years of study, he received honorable mentions twice (in 2008 and 2009) at the 'Presea al Mérito' competition. In 2011, he was invited by Dr. Anatoly Zatin, then-director of the Institute of Fine Arts (IUBA) at the University of Colima, to pursue his bachelor's degree in Music under the guidance of Vlada Vassilieva. At the end of his studies, he was awarded the José Rolón Prize, the highest distinction granted by the institution.
In 2016, he moved to Valencia to pursue a master’s in Musical Performance (M.Mus) at the Universidad Internacional de Valencia under the mentorship of Eugen Indjic, a student of the renowned Arthur Rubinstein. The following year, he was invited by Indjic to continue his studies at the Schola Cantorum in Paris, an esteemed music institution with a notable historical legacy. Later, he was invited by French pianist Danielle Laval to further his studies at the Conservatoire International de Musique de Paris. In 2022, he expanded his training with a master’s in Applied Musicology, and in 2023, he obtained a master’s in Music Education from the University of Granada, graduating with honors for his thesis entitled 'The Execution of Symmetrical Movements on the Piano: A Multidisciplinary Perspective'.
As a pianist, he has performed in cities such as Guadalajara, Monterrey, Mexico City, Dallas, Wichita, Barcelona, Valencia, Granada, and Paris. He has participated in renowned international festivals, including La Fête de la Cité (France), the Dallas International Music Academy, and the Monterrey International Piano Festival. He has also been invited to give lectures and masterclasses at various institutions in Italy, Spain, and Mexico. In 2018, he was a speaker at the 15th International Seminar on Music, Poetry, and the Arts in Naples, and in 2021, he served as a guest professor at the MpMusic Foundation's university courses in Spain.
In Mexico, he founded and directed the La Piedad Music Festival (Michoacán), in collaboration with major institutions such as INBAL, the Conservatorio Las Rosas, and the Colegio de Michoacán. This festival featured projects such as the "Franz Liszt" piano chair, the "Music Education Lectures," and extensions of the Paracho and Morelia guitar festivals in 2022. Additionally, from 2018 to 2022, he led the Centro Integral de Formación Musical, supported by the Fundación Cuenca del Lerma, benefiting many children and young people from La Piedad.
His musical interests also encompass areas such as empirical musicology. In 2021, he received a scholarship from the Fondazioni PierFranco e Luisa Mariani to participate in the VII Neurosciences and Music Conference at Aarhus University (Denmark). He also undertook additional training in neurosciences at the Universidad Iberoamericana.
He is currently pursuing a Doctorate in Music at the University of Montreal, focusing on biomechanics applied to piano technique. Additionally, he regularly teaches piano and gives lectures as part of the La Piedad Music Festival and at Conzërt (Academy of Music Studies). He has worked with piano students based in Mexico, the United States, China, Spain, and Peru.