Ana-Maria Vera, an American pianist of Dutch-Bolivian origin, began her musical studies with her mother at the age of three, made her professional debut when she was eight and has been performing across the globe ever since. At age eleven Vera made her first recording with Edo de Waart and the Rotterdam Philharmonic, for which she was awarded a Gold Record by Philips. The following year she was invited to give a recital at the White House for President and Mrs. Carter. She has also been honoured by the Bolivian people with a commemorative postage stamp. A former pupil of Ylda Novik and Leon Fleisher, Vera has appeared as guest soloist with many of the world’s leading orchestras such as the Philadelphia Orchestra, Cleveland Orchestra, London Philharmonic Orchestra, Baltimore Symphony, Tokyo Symphony Orchestra, Australian Chamber Orchestra and Danish Radio Symphony Orchestra, and with conductors Riccardo Muti, Yoel Levi, David Zinman, Eliahu Inbal, David Stern, Sergiu Commissiona, Maximiano Valdes, Michael Schønwandt, Ken-Ichiro Kobayashi and James Conlon. She is equally at home on both sides of the Atlantic, appearing in solo recitals at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., Herkulessaal in Münich, Tivoli Theatre in Copenhagen, Salle Gaveau in Paris and at London’s Wigmore Hall. Over the past decade Vera has devoted much time to chamber music and developed close duo partnerships with major artists such as Ivry Gitlis, Joshua Bell and Steven Isserlis, with whom she made their joint New York recital debut at the 92nd Street Y in 2006, and most recently performed at Wigmore Hall alongside Bell to rave reviews. Ana-Maria Vera has also organized a series of concerts in Bolivia, taking a select group of world-class colleagues to join local musicians and students to play a full range of chamber and orchestral concerts throughout the country. A huge success, plans are at an early stage to repeat the experience on a regular basis. Vera’s most recent recording, of the “Goyescas” piano suite by Granados, was released on the Signum label in 2009. She currently lives in London.
