Ana María Otamendi is a Venezuelan artist celebrated for her vibrant and multifaceted career as a vocal coach, collaborative pianist, chamber musician, recording artist, educator, and entrepreneur. As the visionary co-founder and Co-Artistic Director of the Collaborative Piano Institute, she has established an internationally renowned summer program for collaborative pianists, drawing an illustrious faculty including Anne Epperson, Rita Sloan, Warren Jones, Martin Katz, Kathleen Kelly, alongside rising young professionals in the field.

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Otamendi is part of several dynamic ensembles: the Reverón Piano Trio, a Venezuelan group championing both classic and Latin American piano trio repertoire managed by Halac Artists - Meluk Kulturmanagement; the Hall/Otamendi Duo with trumpet virtuoso Ashley Hall, and the Aelia Duo with pianist Elena Lacheva. Her passion for expanding the reach of Latin American music is evident in her acclaimed recordings on IBS Classical, Rezurrection Recordz, and Centaur Records, with four more highly anticipated albums forthcoming from Mark Records, Reference Recordings, and Urtext Records.

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Recognized for her holistic approach to music education, Otamendi is deeply invested in the intersection of Neuroscience, Psychology, and music learning. Her workshops and lectures—presented at leading institutions such as Cambridge University, Yale, Wolf Trap Opera, Universidade de São Paulo and many others, blend scientific insight with practical strategies for effective practice and performance. She is fluent in English, Spanish, French, and Italian— and a Geophysical Engineer. Her thesis was published in the prestigious journal Physics of the Earth and Planetary Interiors.

 

Since making her orchestral debut at age twelve, Otamendi has performed as a soloist and collaborative pianist on some of the world’s finest stages: Chicago Symphony Hall, Salzburg Domesaal, Teatro Teresa Carreño (Venezuela), Festival Cervantino (Mexico), Festival Casals, and other prestigious venues throughout the Americas and Europe. She has collaborated in over 600 performances with world-renowned soloists and musicians from the Chicago Lyric Opera Orchestra, Philadelphia Orchestra, Houston Grand Opera, Dallas Symphony, and many more.

 

Ana María holds a Master of Music in piano performance from the University of Wisconsin, an Artist Certificate from the University of South Carolina, studying with Marina Lomazov, and a Doctorate in Collaborative Piano from the University of Michigan, where she trained with the legendary Martin Katz. After residencies with the Houston Grand Opera Studio and Merola Opera Program, she became Head Vocal Coach at the Moores Opera Center, University of Houston. While serving as the Janice Harvey Pellar Associate Professor of Collaborative Piano at Louisiana State University, she created the collaborative piano doctoral program. Currently, Otamendi is the Director of Collaborative Piano Program at the University of Michigan, continuing to shape the next generation of collaborative pianists through her passionate belief in the art of partnership.