Associate Professor of Music
Pianist Luciana Soares serves as Associate Professor of Music at Nicholls State University where she teaches applied piano, accompanying, and music theory courses. A newly appointed Steinway Artist, Soares has performed extensively as soloist and collaborative pianist in the United States and abroad. She received her early musical training in the school of pianist Belkiss Spenzièri Carneiro de Mendonça, and was later a student of Caio Pagano at Arizona State University (M.M. in piano performance) and Mary Ann Stringer at the University of Southern Mississippi (D.M.A. in piano performance and pedagogy).
In addition to teaching and performing a variety of repertoires ranging from Baroque to contemporary, Soares is strongly devoted to promoting the music of her native Brazil. Her accomplishments as a researcher and performer have taken her to presenting lectures and recitals of Brazilian music at universities, concert series and conferences throughout the United States. Her solo debut recording, Brasileira: Piano Music by Brazilian Women has been released on Centaur Records and is available worldwide. More recently, she served on the faculty of the Campina Grande International Music Festival and was featured as a guest artist at the Brasileiro Festival in New Orleans. In the fall of 2012 she premiered the Concerto for piano four hands and chamber orchestra by Liduino Pitombeira, a work dedicated to her.
Soares is an avid chamber musician, recording artist, and advocate of new music, frequently collaborating with artists in the South and presenting world premieres of numerous works. As a member of the Alexander-Soares Duo, in residence at Nicholls, she has performed in Brazil, United States, Austria, and England, being featured in such venues as the Kennedy Center Millennium Stage in Washington, D.C. and the Sala Cecília Meireles in Rio de Janeiro. The duo has been praised for their “brilliant performance, marked by technical refinement, sense of ensemble, and sophisticated interpretation” (O Norte, João Pessoa, Brazil), and has recently released a CD on Centaur Records featuring the sonatas for violin and piano by the Brazilian composer Liduino Pitombeira. Highlights of the ensemble’s recent engagements in Brazil include guest recitals at the Série Sala Cecilia Meireles and the UNIRIO in Rio de Janeiro and the 32nd Curso Internacional de Verão de Brasilia, as well as recitals, lectures and masterclasses at universities and conservatories in Natal, João Pessoa, Recife, Salvador, Porto Alegre, Florianópolis and Belo Horizonte. In Europe, the Duo performed at the University of Chichester (England) and the Landeskonservatorium (Austria). Upcoming appearances include recitals at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, the Pelican State Chamber Music Series, and a concert tour in England.
Dr. Luciana Soares is recipient of the 2009 Marie Fletcher Distinguished Service Award of the Nicholls Alumni Federation, and the Nicholls State University’s Academic Council Salutes award. She maintains an active schedule as guest clinician and adjudicator, and is a member of the Music Teachers National Association and the National Federation of Music Clubs.
Audio Samples:
Camargo Guarnieri, Dansa Brasileira
Education:
B.M., Federal University of Goiás; M.M., Arizona State University; D.M.A., University of Southern Mississippi
Courses taught:
MUS 105 — Music Appreciation
MUS 306 — Piano Accompanying
MUS 323 — Analysis
MUS 376 — Keyboard Literature
Performance Courses:
MUS 161, 162, 171, 172, 261, 262, 271, 272, 371, 372, 400, 471, 472
Contact information:
274 Talbot Hall
Phone: 985.448.4611
E-mail: luciana.soares@nicholls.edu