Pianist, composer, improviser, Mauricio Arias-Esguerra is a versatile Colombian musician. Composer of Rapsodia Camaleónica for trumpet, piano and orchestra. He has performed in various continents and important venues, including Carnegie Hall in New York and Festival di Spoleto (Italy), representing Colombia, along with Medellín Philharmonic Orchestra. As a pianist, one of his projects is the promotion of pieces by contemporary Colombian composers. He has published two piano solo albums on the Toccata label: ¡Colombia Viva! and ¡Colombia Viva! Vol. 2, both albums focused on the contemporary music of his native Colombia. Award-winning pianist at Kingsville, Schmidbauer, Peabody Mason, USasu Bösendorfer, Panama City piano competitions. In Colombia, he was the winner of the 1st Fryderyk Chopin National Piano Competition and the UIS National Piano Competition. He studied piano with Ludmila Weber (Corpas University, BM), Baruch Meir and Robert Hamilton (Arizona State University, DMA). He has studied composition with Rodney Rogers and Jorge Pinzón, in addition to participating in various courses with composers James DeMars, Zygmunt Krauze, Zhou Long, Philippe Manoury, Martijn Padding, Paul Patterson, Alessandro Solbiati, Simon Steen-Andersen, Chen Yi. He has been commissioned by the National Symphony Orchestra of Colombia, University of Florida Symphonic Band, Bogotá Department of Education and now, Piano Teachers Congress of New York. He has collaborated with trumpeter Pacho Flores, violinist Aisha Syed, among others. Mauricio is currently assistant professor at Universidad de los Andes in Colombia. He is the pianist and arranger of Bogotá Piano Trio. His albums also include La trompeta camaleónica (in collaboration with trumpeter Randy Lee).