Andrés Roa, a pianist from Popayán and a professor at the Universidad del Cauca, was part of a select group of national and international artists who gathered at the XVIII Cartagena Music Festival 'Symphony of Nature'. The event took place from January 5th to 13th in indoor venues and public squares of Colombia's walled city.

On January 13th, as part of the XVIII Cartagena Music Festival, Andrés Roa delighted attendees with his debut performance. His recital was dedicated entirely to Colombian music, featuring some of the most representative piano works by Antonio María Valencia, such as the suite pour le piano and the sonatina boyacense. He also presented a virtuosic selection of bambucos and pasillos de concierto by Manuel M. Párraga, Julio Reyes Copello, and Juan Domingo Córdoba. In the second half of the program, he shared the stage with renowned Colombian violinist Laura Hoyos, performing works by Luis Carlos Figueroa and Daniel ZTo learn more about this great pianist, we want to share that Maestro Roa, born in the White City (Popayán) in 1986, began his piano studies with Marist brother Antonio Ospina. He continued under the tutelage of the prestigious maestro Manfred Gerhardt and earned his degree as a pianist from the Universidad del Cauca in 2010. Roa has been awarded prizes in the Young Performers competitions at Banco de la República's Luis Ángel Arango Hall (2004) and at the Alliance Française in Bogotá (2007).Throughout his notable career, he has also performed at the "La Colombie à Paris" festival (2009), where he was invited by the Embassy of Colombia in France and the Alliance Française of Paris

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Thus, this Unicauca alumnus has participated in prominent stages, such as in 2015, when he was commissioned to debut the "Yellow River Piano Concerto" by Xian Xinghai in Colombia under the direction of Cecilia Espinosa and the EAFIT Symphony Orchestra. That same year, he completed his master's studies in interpretation at Universidad EAFIT with Maestra Blanca Uribe. This maestro exemplifies that our professors are always striving to enhance their education; currently, he is pursuing his doctoral studies in Humanities at Universidad del Cauca, conducting research on the life and pianistic works of Colombian composer Antonio María Valencia.

Since 2010, Roa has been a faculty member in our Department of Music at the Faculty of Arts, where his talent contributes to the education of students who have chosen to dedicate their lives to music from a professional perspective.

En this University of Excellence and Solidarity, we take pride in the quality of our professors. It fills us with excitement to share their participation in various forums where they consistently uphold the values of our alma mater.

For more information:

Faculty of Arts

Email: facartes@unicauca.edu.co