Fernando Meza

Fernando Meza is director of percussion studies at the University of Minnesota School of Music. A native of Costa Rica, Meza held the Principal Percussion/Associate Timpani chair of its National Symphony Orchestra (1989-1991), and taught at the University of Costa Rica, the National Center for Music, and The Ohio State University prior to his appointment at the U of M. He performs regularly with the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra and Minnesota Orchestra with whom he has toured in such venues as Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center (New York), Musikverein (Vienna), and the Berliner Philharmonie (Germany) amongst others. He has recorded and toured in Japan, Latin America, and the USA with marimba virtuoso Keiko Abe, and in Europe, the USA, and Lithuania with Nebojsa Zivkovic, as part of the Jovan Perkussion Projekt. Meza was one of the original percussionists for the Broadway production and original-cast recording of Disney's THE LION KING, was the organizer/host of Marimba 2010 International Festival and Conference, is a performing artist/clinician for Grover Pro Percussion, Zildjian, and OBiolley Instruments, and faculty for the YOA-Orchestra of the Americas since 2003, and the Youth Philharmonic of Colombia since 2010. His recording J.S. Bach: Suites for Unaccompanied Cello performed on Marimba is distributed through cdbaby.com, iTunes, and other digital music providers. Meza holds degrees from Baylor University (BM) and the University of Michigan (MM), and is proud to have had his earliest training in music as part of the Youth Program of the Costa Rica National Symphony Orchestra.