The Festival Team

NUNO MARQUES

ARTISTIC DIRECTOR & CO-FOUNDER

Award-winning Portuguese pianist Nuno Marques has developed an extensive, international performing career from his current base in New York City, where he directs Porto Pianofest – an international piano festival held annually in Porto, Portugal. He is the festival’s founder and artistic director. A Doctor of Musical Arts, Nuno is a versatile musician, equally comfortable playing solo, chamber music, teaching, or collaborating with other forms of artistic expression.His most recent concerts took him to renowned music halls and festivals in Europe, Asia and the US, where he played twice at Carnegie Hall. Nuno Marques has also embarked twice on extensive concert tours in China, and has given public masterclasses in Portugal, Spain, the World Piano Congress in Serbia, Myanmar, China and the US.

  • As a soloist Nuno Marques has performed with the Orquestra do Norte – Portugal, the Artave Orchestra, Jovem Orquestra de Famalicão, and the Orchestra for Myanmar, where he participated in a humanitarian project with young musicians from the Rohingya minority. He has recorded for Antena2 Radio Portugal and Centro Atlântico Editora, and is a founding member of prizewinning chamber music ensembles, with whom he performed and recorded throughout Europe. With a wide interest in contemporary music, he has also performed with leading contemporary music ensembles, having commissioned and premiered many works for solo piano and ensemble.Nuno Marques holds a Doctor of Musical Arts degree (DMA) from Rutgers University, where he studied with Min Kwon. He is also a graduate from the Guildhall School of Music & Drama in London, studying with Artur Pizarro. He completed his first Master’s Degree in piano performance at the Royal College of Music, London, with Niel Immelman; and a second Master’s degree in Instrumental Pedagogy from the Aveiro University in Portugal. Having first moved to New York to attend NYU— the Steinhardt School, under the tutelage of José Ramón Méndez— he was awarded the prestigious Reinhold Scholarship and taught classes at the NYU piano department. Throughout his career, Nuno has had the opportunity to work with important pianists such as Lazar Berman, Irina Zaritzkaya, Vitaly Margoulis, Alexander Kobrin, and Dominique Weber; and in chamber music settings with Bernard Greenhouse (Beaux Arts Piano Trio), Takacs Quartet, Florestan Piano Trio, Gary Hoffman and Ilia Grubert. Nuno has been awarded prizes at piano competitions in London and Portugal. His studies have been sponsored by the European Union (Dfes), NYU- Reinhold Foundation, Fundação Gulbenkian and the AAMSL.Nuno Marques is the Music Director of Stars of American Ballet, a dance company offering world class performances bringing together principal dancers and soloists from major American companies. With Stars of American Ballet, Nuno has toured through Israel, Hungary, Portugal, and will embark on a tour through USA and Serbia in 2022.Nuno Marques founded Porto Pianofest in 2016. His excitement to support the new generation of pianists and bring the greatest musicians and mentors to his native country has brought this young festival to quick international esteem. Porto Pianofest has since expanded its activity to NYC, and will continue its model of providing performance opportunities and world-class instruction to a number of American cities in the coming year.Nuno Marques is passionate about traveling, literature and photography.

MARIEL MAYZ

ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR & CO-FOUNDER

“You’ll no doubt be enveloped by Mayz’s magical virtuosity as a performer and composer.” (Kabir Sehgal, Grammy & Latin Grammy Award Winner).
New York native Mariel Mayz is a sought-after composer, pianist, and educator. Mariel’s original works have been described as inventive, colorful, compelling, and well-crafted; and according to critics, “in Mayz’s very capable hands pieces are illuminated with tremendous poise, warmth and a talent that few will ever replicate” (Take Effect Reviews).
In September 2022, Mariel’s debut album Leo Brouwer: Cuban Sketches for Piano was released by the ZOHO music label, featuring premiere recordings of piano works by Leo Brouwer as well as her own original compositions and arrangements. The album’s release concert was presented in conjunction with her debut performance at the Americas Society/Council of the Americas. In 2023, Mariel also made her debut at Dizzy’s Club, Jazz at Lincoln Center as part the NYC Sonic Festival performance curated by Clarice Assad. 

  • Mariel’s most recent works include commissions from the Japanese American Cultural and Community Center (Los Angeles, CA); Sarasa Ensemble (Cambridge, MA); two commissioned works for “The Illustrated Pianist,” celebrating the centennial of American author Ray Bradbury; the Higher Ground Festival (NYC); guitarist Nora Spielman; violist Elise Frawley; the Bloomingdale School of Music; Nyack College; soprano Lara Martins, and two-time Latin Grammy nominee João Luiz— whose dedicated piece Stifled was a finalist in the Portugal International Guitar Composition Competition. Mariel’s first large-scale work for the stage—a one-act, chamber opera— was commissioned by American Opera Projects and the Hunter Opera Theater. The work was premiered by the Hunter Opera Theater and Talea Ensemble during the 2018 New York Opera Fest.
    Mariel’s arrangements have also been performed by renowned artists such as Anthony Roth Costanzo, the Atlantic Collective, and Lara Downes— who just recorded Mariel’s arrangement of I’ll Be Seeing You on her latest album “Love At Last” released by Pentatone. 
    Mariel’s major teachers include pianists José Ramón Mendez, Seymour Bernstein, and Geoffrey Burleson; and composers Suzanne Farrin, Justin Dello Joio, Erin Gee, Yu-Hui Chang and David Rakowski.
    Mariel is currently a Teaching Fellow at Harvard University while simultaneously pursuing a PhD in Composition and Theory at Brandeis University. Previous teaching positions include Adjunct Professor of Music Theory and lecturer for the Arts Management & Leadership Certificate at CUNY Hunter College, as well as Program Coordinator for the Hunter Mellon Arts Fellowship— a pivotal program for diversity and inclusion within the field of arts management and leadership.

ANDRÉ RODRIGUES

PRODUCER & AUDIO-VISUAL DIRECTOR

Born in Barcelos, André Rodrigues began his career in photography during adolescence, trying to visually document ornithological observations with his parents. At that time, he did not imagine that photography would be predominant in his life. André graduated in Biological Engineering from the University of Minho, and decided to leave the field of engineering in 2016 to pursue photographic arts. In 2018, he completed the Professional Photography Course at IPCI (Porto) under the guidance of António Pedrosa. Since then, he has worked as a freelance photographer in many diverse areas, collaborating with publications such as the Público newspaper, and most prominently, as the photographer for Porto Pianofest since its beginnings in 2016.Although beginning as a photographer, André's role with the festival quickly expanded to producer and media specialist— where he assists in administrative tasks, works within festival communications, and handles media components; such as, concert recording, livestreaming, and photographing. During the festival in August, André additionally directs a team of media assistants.