Pianist, Juana Zayas has performed throughout Europe, South America, and the United States.  Known in particular for her exquisite and moving performances of Chopin, she received critical acclaim for her recording of the Chopin Etudes as an “amalgam of lyricism, wit, drama, and sheer pianistic craft, full of subtle and imaginative detail, lustrous tone, and impeccable technique” (Piano Quarterly, 1999) and has been called an “extraordinary pianist” (Harold Schonberg, 1977).  She has performed the entire Chopin Etudes at the 2000 World Piano Pedagogy Conference in Las Vegas, Nevada, and at Piano Festival Northwest 2003 in Portland, Oregon. Ms. Zayas has appeared at the 1999 and 2000 Newport Music Festivals in Rhode Island and is frequently invited by the prestigious Serate Musicali to give recitals at Verdi Hall in Milan.  She has also performed with the Radio Philharmonic Orchestra and the Zeeuws Orchestra in the Netherlands, the Orquesta Sinfónica de Radio Televisión Española in Madrid, the Venezuela Symphony Orchestra, and with the San Diego Symphony and Rochester Philharmonic.  She has appeared at Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall, Alice Tully Hall, the National Gallery of Art and the French Embassy in Washington, DC, the Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall in Sarasota, Florida, and on National Public Radio and New York’s WQXR.  Ms. Zayas’s recordings have been released on Music & Arts Programs of America, Albany Records and ZMI, including two recent CDs of Schumann and Schubert for Music & Arts as well as three CDs on the Zayas Masterworks, Inc., label featuring the works of Bach-Busoni, Mozart, Beethoven, Liszt, Debussy, and Chopin.  Her most recent Cds include the the Soirée Italienne – a collection of works by Bach, Clementi, Liszt, and Scarlatti as well as a recording of the complete Chopin Ballades and Scherzos. Born in Cuba, Ms. Zayas’ early studies were at the Peyrellade Conservatory in Havana and finally at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique in Paris with Joseph Benvenuti and René Le Roy.  In New York, Ms Zayas continued studies with Adele Marcus, David Bar-Ilan, and Josef Raieff.  Ms. Zayas has received the Gold Medal from the Peyrellade Conservatory, the Medal of Distinction from the International Music Competition in Geneva, Switzerland, and the Ignacio Cervantes Medal for Exceptional Artistic Achievement from the Cuban Cultural Center of New York.  As a longtime member of Mu Phi Epsilon, the New York City Alumni Chapter is proud to present Ms. Zayas as the 2011 Distinguished Artist in recital this evening.

For more information about Ms. Zayas’ recordings and concert schedule, please refer to her website: www.juanazayas.com.