Olga López
One of Venezuela’s most sought-after piano teachers, Olga López has taught many prize-winning pianists, gives master classes worldwide and is a frequent international competition judge. She is Professor of Piano at University of the Arts (UNEARTE) and Director of the Manuel Alberto López School of Music (named after her father). Born in Barquisimeto, she studied at the Caracas Superior School of Music. Her teachers include Maestros Vicente Emilio Sojo, Juan Bautista Plaza, Inocente Carreño, Magda Tagliaferro, Emma Stopello, José Vicente Torres, Eduardo Rahn, Guido Agosti, Carlos Zecchi, Marek Jablonski, Susan Starr and Frank Fernández.
She has become sort of a music ambassador of Venezuelan and Latin American music written for piano, taking it to stages in Austria, Spain, Germany, Belgium, France, England, Sweden, Norway, Russia, Romania, Greece, Portugal, Israel, the United States, Uruguay, Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Mexico, Costa Rica, Cuba and Peru, sometimes in recitals, others accompanied by an orchestra.
Her most remarkable recordings include “Latinoamérica en el Piano” with pieces from all over Latinamerica and “Venezuela Sinfónica” where she is the first to record the Piano Concerto by Maestro Evencio Castellanos (a Venezuelan composer), accompanied by the Gran Mariscal de Ayacucho Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Maestro Rodolfo Saglimbeni.
Her pedagogic vocation takes her to create the Manuel Alberto López School of Music, established in Caracas more than 30 years ago, where she and her great team of Teaching Artists have educated generations of musicians. Olga López has also been a Professor at Juan José Landaeta Conservatory and the University of the Arts (UNEARTE), institution that awarded her with an Honorary Doctorate. She is often invited by European and Latin American institutions to dictate master classes and courses.
Olga López was awarded the Municipal Music Award of Caracas, in its Best Pedagogic Activity category. In 2000, the authorities of El Hatillo, the town where her school of music is located, created the Olga López Municipal Music Award and declared the Manuel Alberto López School of Music a cultural and artistic patrimony. She also received “El Águila de Tlatelolco”, the top award of the Mexican Chancellery, and the “Andrés Bello” award granted by the Venezuelan Ministry of Education.
