Pablo Luis Lavandera

Visiting Artist-in-Residence; Lecturer - Piano
pablo.lavandera@stonybrook.edu

Dr. Lavandera is an Artist-in-Residence at Stony Brook University, where he is on the faculty and teaches piano, chamber music, and a collaborative piano class. He has been a guest teacher at the Juilliard School of Music, The New England Conservatory, and Stony Brook University Pre-College Programs. 

His former students at Stony Brook University have been admitted to many prestigious graduate music programs after graduation, including Manhattan School of Music, Stony Brook University, Peabody Conservatory, Royal Academy of Music in London, New York University, Queens College, Mannes School of Music, Boston University, University of Southern California, Longy School of Music of Bard College, University of South Carolina, and the University of Denver. He developed a pre-college pedagogical activity, and many of his students were admitted into prestigious pre-college programs. 

Pablo Lavandera has appeared as a recitalist, chamber musician and soloist with orchestras throughout the Americas and Europe. He has performed in New York City’s Carnegie Hall (Weill Hall), Lincoln Center (Bruno Walter Auditorium), Steinway Hall, Yamaha Hall, Metropolitan Museum of Art, NYU’s Skirball Center, DiMenna Center for Classical Music, Manhattan School of Music, Tenri Cultural Institute, Baruch College, Bohemian National Hall, WMP Concert Hall, Argentinean Consulate, Polish Consulate, Plaxall Gallery, and many other venues. He has also performed countrywide in venues such as Jordan Hall in Boston, Massachusetts; Notre Dame University in Baltimore, Maryland; James Madison University in Virginia; and Indiana University Bloomington. In his native Argentina he performed at the main venues, including Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires. In Europe he performed in various cities in Germany, Poland, and Austria, including the Steingraber Rococo Saal concert series in Bayreuth. 

He has been the pianist with the New York Chamber Musicians, an innovative chamber music series created in 2012 and directed by violinist Joanna Kaczorowska and Random Access Music (RAM), a high caliber New York musician and composer’s ensemble dedicated to delivering exciting performances of works by composers of the 20th and 21st centuries, including music by living American Composers. He is also part of the TransAtlantic Piano Duo with German pianist Evelyn Ulex, as well as a member of the ArtsAhimsa chamber music ensemble. 

As an avid proponent of contemporary music, his collaborations with composers have resulted in the premiere of many new pieces — some of his notable collaborations include the New York and European premieres of Grammy Award-winning American composer Gabriela Frank’s “Sueños de Chambi” for violin and piano; the South American premiere of "Levante" for piano solo written by Pulitzer Prize winner Osvaldo Golijov; The world premiere of Junio (June) by four-time Latin Grammy winner Claudia Montero (dedicated to Pablo Lavandera); and the collective New York City world premiere of Israeli composer Lior Navok's "The Old Photo Box.” Dr. Lavandera was also the pianist for the Indiana University New Music Ensemble (Bloomington) where he worked and recorded with many contemporary composers.

Other premieres he participated in include works by composers Daniel Weymouth, Niloufar Nourbakhsh, John Arrigo Nelson, Laurence LeMasters, Joshua Feltman, and Seth Boustead. Additionally, he collaborated with composers such as Sheila Silver, Irma Urteaga, Roberto García Morillo, Angel Lasala, and more. 

He was the First Prize Winner of the 2009 Liszt-Garrison International Piano Competition in the collaborative artists category (Baltimore, USA), with violinist Joanna Kaczorowska in the collaborative artist category. Musicians from 25 countries competed at the Liszt-Garrison that year. 

Dr. Lavandera’s recordings comprise piano solo music, chamber music, and Concerto repertoire. Some of his significant recordings include participation on the Franz Liszt “Visionary” CD, contributions for the Muzio Clementi's complete piano works project recording (Aurophon), the Ensemble Antognazzi CD, and works by contemporary composers: Irma Urteaga complete works, Indiana University New Music Ensemble, Rodolfo Arizaga's piano concerto, and the music of the award-winning documentaries "The Muse is the Mountain" and "Four Journeys" by filmmaker Teresa Mular. 

He was elected President of the Associated Music Teachers League (AMTL) for the 2023-2025 period, an organization which consists of professional musicians, music teachers, university and conservatory faculty and students, and performing artists. He has adjudicated for the regional piano and duo piano competitions of the Music Teachers National Association (MTNA) and the US and International Piano division of the New York Performer’s Prize (NYPP) advanced and college categories. 

He is a member of the American Liszt Society and the Suffolk Piano Teachers Foundation, for which he has presented lecture demonstrations. He is a founder member of Sonus Guastavino, a collective of international performers dedicated to the promotion of the music composed by Carlos Gustavino. He participated in the first international Sonus Guastavino Music Festival held online in 2020.Furthermore, he has served as the Music Director and Organist at the First Presbyterian Church of Smithtown (NY) for the past twenty years. 

Lavandera came to the United States as a two-year Fulbright Scholar from Argentina in 1998, and resides in New York City. Prior to his arrival in the US, he had concertized with his country’s main orchestras, including the National Symphony, and won first prize in several national piano competitions. Through his extensive collaboration with Argentinean composers, he has been invited to perform and record their music, including participation in the "Argentinean Music Anthology," published by the Argentinean National Endowment for the Arts. He had also received the coveted annual prize by the Argentinean Society of Composers and Authors, which is given to a single performer that is dedicated to the dissemination of Argentinean art music. 

He earned a Doctorate in Piano Performance from Stony Brook University, a Performer Diploma from Indiana University (Bloomington), and a Master’s in Piano from the New England Conservatory. He also holds the highest Piano Pedagogy degree in Argentina (Profesor Superior de Piano) from the Gilardo Gilardi Conservatory. His main teachers in the United States include Gilbert Kalish, Menahem Pressler, Leonard Hokanson, Stephen Drury, Evelyne Brancart, Emile Naoumoff; in Argentina, Aldo Antognazzi, Dante Medina, Norma de Bonini and Ema Centurio.