David Garcia bio

Born in Venezuela on November 6th, 2007, David García has called Panama home since he was a baby. He is recognized as a young piano prodigy with exceptional musical ability.

David began his formal piano studies at the tender age of seven with Professor Margarita de Troetsch. In 2020, he started learning under the renowned Master Piotr Ockzowski from Germany, and has recently resumed face-to-face classes with Professor Luis Troetsch.

His remarkable talent has shone in numerous national and international piano competitions:

• 2015: 1st prize in his category at the Youth Piano Competition.
• 2017: 1st prize in his category at the Pianissimo Festival Contest in Medellín.
• 2019: 1st prize in the Concert for Piano and Orchestra category (Haydn Piano Concerto in D Major) at the Youth Piano Competition of Panama.
• 2020: Grand Prix of the Carmel Klavier LATAM contest in Bogotá, Colombia.
• 2021: 2nd prize (Grieg Piano Concerto in G Major category) and an Honorable Mention (solo piano category) at the international Carmel Klavier competition in Indiana, USA.
• 2021: 2nd prize in the V Future Star International Piano Competition in Connecticut, USA.
• 2021: 3rd prize in the Franz Liszt Center contest in Spain.
• 2021: 1st prize in his category, the Panayotis Kitras Medal, and the Martiza Kitras Prize at the Youth Piano Competition of Panama.

David has also made significant contributions to the musical landscape through his performances:

• 2018: He premiered and gave the first audition in Panama of the five-movement Concerto for Piano and Children's Orchestra by Spanish composer Pablo Berlanga. He performed this with the Children's Orchestra of the Metropolitan School of Panama, directed by Maestro César Castillo.
• He has performed with the Academic Orchestra of the Faculty of Fine Arts of the University of Panama, under the baton of Maestro Samuel Robles, and with the Philharmonic Orchestra of Panama, directed by Maestro Víctor Mata, with whom he recently performed in Bogotá, Colombia.
• 2021: David also premiered "Ruins of Old Panama," a work by the Panamanian composer and pianist Blanca Chapman de Tutzauer.
• 2023: David performed as a soloist the  Mozart Piano concerto No 24 in C minor, K.491 in Balboa theater in Panama city.

David's dedication and talent continue to make him a prominent figure in the world of classical piano, both in Panama and internationally.