Teacher Bios
Melissa & Matthew Alcazar
Melissa and Matthew Alcazar travel together as a piano virtuoso duo performing works from composers such as Gershwin, Rossini, Bach, Rachmaninoff and Mozart. They also perform in solo performances as well as chamber music with repertoire that covers a wide variety of classical composers.
Melissa Alcazar
Melissa graduated from the California Institute of the Arts with a Bachelor's Degree in Fine Arts for piano performance. She won numerous awards such as Gold medals from the US Open Piano Competitions held in Oakland, CA, 1st place awards in the Search for Talent Competitions held in Pasadena, CA. She also won the "Pianist Award" where she was offered a position as a featured pianist in the Fil-American Professional Concert held in Chino Hills of 2000. She recieved the "Finalist Certificate" for the Stravinsky International Competition held in Chicago, IL. in 1998. At the California Institute of the Arts, she was a featured pianist in many chamber music concerts, as well as solo performances. She was a featured pianist in the Dumont Foundations Scholar's Concert from 2001-2004. In 2006, she was the music director/teacher at Holy Redeemer Elementary School where she started their very first bell choir. She is currently teaching in her own studio as well as the South Pasadena Music Center & Conservatory. She enjoys working with each and every one of her students and is very pleased to share her knowledge of the piano as an art to the community.
Teacher's Philosophy
"Great teaching is a performing art and a great performer is always teaching."
"Art and music are manifestations of humanity's fundamental need for more than mere existence, and they represent a desire to achieve and create."
Matthew Alcazar
Matthew graduated from the California State University Northridge in 2007 with a Bachelor's Degree in Music. He's won numerous awards including Gold Medals from the U.S. Open Music Competitions held in Oakland, CA, and The Sonata Competitions held at the Occidental College in Los Angeles. He has won First Place Medals from Pasadena's Search for Talent Competitions for 3 years in a row and he was a featured pianist in the Phil-American Professional Piano Concert held in Chino Hills, CA. He was also featured as a "Finalist" in the Stravnisky International Piano Competition held in Champagne-Urbana, Illinois where he was chosen as one of the top 20 pianists in the world. He plans on pursuing a Master's Degree in Piano Performance.
