Alfonso Hernandez

Hailing from Guatemala, Alfonso Hernandez is currently a Doctorate in Musical Arts candidate at University of Maryland working with Larissa Dedova.  His dissertation studies the 20th and 21st century Guatemalan piano literature.

Alfonso started learning music with his father when he was 4-years-old and entered the National Conservatory of Guatemala at the age of 7 where he graduated with honors. As a student at the Conservatory, he won virtually all available national competitions and featured first debut as soloist with the National Symphonic Orchestra of Guatemala at the age of 12. Alfonso also appeared with the “Jesús Castillo” National Youth Symphony Orchestra of Guatemala (2005), the National Conservatory Orchestra of Guatemala, and the National Conservatory Camerata (2009).
With the help of the Hirsch Undergraduate Scholarship, Alfonso moved to United States to pursue a Bachelor in Music Performance with Nancy Weems at the University of Houston studying privately with Slava Gabrielov. In 2013, he graduated cum laude and represented the piano department in the commencement ceremony.

Subsequently, Alfonso obtained a Master in Music in Performance and Literature at the Eastman School of Music under the tutelage of Rebecca Penneys and taught group-piano to undergraduates under the guidance of Tony Caramia. In 2015, Alfonso received a full scholarship to complete a Professional Performance Certificate working closely with Roberta Rust at Lynn University.

In United States, Alfonso has won awards from the Lynn University Concerto Competition, the Moores School of Music Concerto Competition; Texas Music Teachers Association Young Artist Piano Competition; Music Teachers National Association (Texas Division) Young Artist Competition; the Petroff Piano Competition (including P. Petroff’s dedication for the commissioned work during the competition); the Chautauqua International Piano Competition; the Maria Clara Cullell International Piano Competition; and several others.

Alfonso has been invited to several renowned music festivals including the Chautauqua Music Festival; Aspen Music Festival under Yoheved Kaplinsky studio; Rebecca Penneys Piano Festival; International Piano Festival at the University of Houston; Art of the Piano in Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music; the Texas State International Piano Festival; Pianofest in the Hamptons.

As a collaborative pianist and chamber musician, Alfonso worked at  the University of Maryland as a graduate collaborative pianist under the coordination of Rita Sloan. Alfonso performed at the Zeister Muziekdagen Kamermuziekfestival en Masterclasse in Netherland having master classes with members of the Vienna Brahms Trio, Emerson Quartet, Alban Berg Quartet, and Robert Kullek. Alfonso is part of the pianist roster of the Core Ensemble: a chamber theatre company that celebrates diversity through music, and has performed on many dozens of colleges and universities around in the United States.

Nowadays, Alfonso performs frequently as a soloist with the National Symphony of Guatemala and he has been featured artist in the National Symphony’s Chamber Music Season. As an educator, Alfonso directed many music workshops for students at the National Conservatory and the University of San Carlos - Escuela Superior de Arte. In 2015 Alfonso served as visiting piano faculty at the University of San Carlos in Guatemala. Mr. Hernandez is Co-founder of the award-winning International Chamber Music Festival of Guatemala – FIMCA Guatemala.