Piano instructor
Active as a performer, teacher, adjudicator, curator, and scholar, Dr. Ricardo de la Torre has played in concert venues in North America and Europe and has appeared as soloist with orchestras in Mexico and the U.S. A finalist and prize winner in several competitions, he has held grants and scholarships from different cultural and government institutions. He is frequently heard as part of Duo Powers-de la Torre, which he forms with Dr. Lark Powers. Blue Samba, the duo’s debut album, dedicated to the music of Uruguayan-American composer Miguel del Águila, will be released by Odradek Records in 2026.
A dedicated instructor with over 23 years of experience, Ricardo has been teaching for the Community Music program at the University of Puget Sound since 2017. In addition, he serves as instructor at Pacific Lutheran University, Concordia Arts & Music Academy, and was on faculty at East Central University in Oklahoma, teaching a variety of subjects.
Also active in scholarly endeavors, he has been invited to present lectures and lecture-recitals at local, regional, national, and international conferences and has had articles published by peer-reviewed journals in Mexico, Colombia and the U.S. He regularly writes program notes for Mexico’s National Autonomous University’s professional orchestra (OFUNAM).
Born in Mexico City, Ricardo attended the pre-college program at Escuela Superior de Música in his hometown. He later received a Bachelor degree with honors from this institution. He continued his studies at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music, where he received a Master of Music degree and went on to graduating with a Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the University of Colorado Boulder, where he worked as a teaching assistant and collaborative pianist. His main teachers include Ana María Tradatti, Fernando García Torres, Evelyne Brancart and David Korevaar.
Ricardo worked as Curator of Art and Music at Lakewold Gardens in Lakewood, coordinated Tacoma’s Listen Live at Lunch summer concert series and directs Orquesta Northwest’s Latino Chamber Music Festival in Seattle every Fall.
In demand as an adjudicator throughout the state and the Pacific Northwest, he currently serves as a Visiting Artist for Washington State Music Teachers Association’s Music Artistry Program and is a Nationally Certified Teacher of Music by the Music Teachers National Association.