Native of Argentina, Florencia Zuloaga is a versatile performer with over a decade of professional performing and teaching experience. She has appeared as a soloist, alongside chamber groups, and with orchestras, both in her native country and in the United States. As an enthusiastic explorer of diversity through concert programming, Florencia made recent performances of repertoire written by Argentinean women composers, including the 2020 USA premiere of the Piano Sonata by Lita Spena, the 2021 USA premiere of Lita Spena’s Preludes and the 2021 USA premiere of Celia Torrá’s Piano Sonata. Her pedagogical video on the Piano Sonata by Torrá is now part of the online series “From the Artist Bench”, a publication made by the Frances Clark Center for Keyboard Pedagogy. Other presentations about this repertoire include events such as the VII Encuentro de Pianistas (Costa Rica, 2022), the Piano Plus Festival in Xanthi (Greece, 2022), the Piano National Conference of Keyboard Pedagogy (USA, 2021) and the Segundo Congreso Internacional de Piano (Argentina, 2014).

Florencia is currently completing a Doctorate in Musical Arts at the University of Nebraska Lincoln with an emphasis on Piano Performance under the guidance of pianist Paul Barnes. At the Glenn Korff School of Music, Florencia served as a Graduate Teaching Assistant, Othmer Fellow, and was recently selected as the 2020/2021 Glenn Korff Distinguished Artist and Scholar. Florencia completed a Masters in Piano Performance in the University of Arkansas, where she studied with acclaimed pianist Jura Margulis. Afterwards, she completed a Graduate Certificate under the guidance of Dr. Tomoko Kashiwagi. While studying in Arkansas, Florencia served as Graduate Teaching Assistant and was awarded the Carolyn Hickson 2019 Piano Scholarship. Additionally, she received the First Prize in the 2018 Concerto Competition, performing Maurice Ravel’s Piano “Concerto in G” with the Arkansas Philharmonic Orchestra. Florencia was also finalist for the 2019 edition of Northwest Arkansas “Artist 360” program. As a member of the Jazz Combo at the University of Arkansas, she toured across the state and was selected to perform at the 2019 Network Jazz Conference in Reno, Nevada.

Being a laureate in multiple piano competitions in her home country, Florencia has performed extensively in Argentina. Some of her accolades include first prizes from the Asociación Argentina de Pianistas Pedagogos (member of the European Piano Teachers Association), Temporada Alegretto and Buenos Aires City’s Youth Orchestras. Her orchestral debut in 2012 featured a performance of Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 9 with the Amadeus Radio Orchestra in Buenos Aires. Florencia graduated with honors from the Manuel de Falla Music Conservatory in Buenos Aires and holds a Bachelor of Music in Piano Performance from the National University of Arts. During this period, her mentors included Marcela Fiorillo, Eduardo Páez, and Alfredo Corral. Florencia’s involvement with the music community of Lincoln and Omaha is demonstrated by recent in-person performances, collaborations, presentations, and clinics made for the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, the Nebraska Music Teachers Association, the Omaha Performing Arts Jazz Academy, and the Sigma Alpha Iota Lincoln Alumni Chapter. She recently joined the Omaha Conservatory of Music as an Artist-Faculty and is thrilled to be part of the initiatives to build an inclusive and diverse musical community.

What to expect in lessons with Florencia:

• Nurturing a passion for piano playing through sustainable practice and a goal-oriented approach.
• Instruction in classical repertoire, with a progressive attention to stylistic, technical, and performative aspects of piano playing. This includes developing an increased fluency in sight-reading and memorization.
• Preparation for live performances, competitions, and ensemble auditions in Nebraska and the Midwest region.
• Functional keyboard skills tailored to the student’s interests. The role of piano playing within a contemporary music, pop, rock, or jazz ensemble. This includes
• improvisation techniques based on ear training, solo transcriptions, and standard song structure study.