Fernando Plana

Hello! I'm Fernando Plana, a pianist and conservatory educator from Buenos Aires, Argentina, with over 15 years of experience teaching music at the higher-education level. I earned my degree as Profesor Superior de Música in Piano, with a specialization in Music Technology, from the Conservatorio Superior de Música de la Ciudad de Buenos Aires "Astor Piazzolla" (2011), where I was awarded the Gold Medal for the highest GPA in my graduating class. I also hold a Licenciatura (bachelor's degree) in Musical Arts with a focus on piano performance from the Universidad Nacional de las Artes (2019), and I have completed the full graduate coursework of the Master's program in University Teaching at the University of Buenos Aires, where I trained specifically in educational technology, curriculum design, and assessment. I am currently a doctoral candidate in Arts at the Universidad Nacional de las Artes.

For more than a decade I have taught at the Astor Piazzolla Conservatory in Buenos Aires, where my courses have included Ear Training (10 years), Music Technology and Education (11 years), and Cultural Project Management (11 years). Since 2023 I serve as the conservatory's Vice Director, after four years as its Academic Secretary (2019–2023). I have also been a professor at the Universidad Nacional de las Artes, where I taught Music Law for five years — a field I know well from an unusual angle: alongside my musical training, I hold a law degree from the University of Buenos Aires (2006) and specialize in copyright and the music industry.

As a performer, I have given piano recitals at venues including the Cathedral of La Plata (2016) and the Carlos Gardel Museum in Buenos Aires (2016), and performed chamber music at the Universidad Nacional de las Artes between 2013 and 2019. I am a researcher on the history of pianism in Argentina, and my work on technology in music education has been published by Noveduc (Buenos Aires, 2017) and presented at international conferences in Argentina and Brazil. I teach lessons in both English and Spanish.

My approach combines the rigor of the conservatory tradition with the flexibility that each individual student needs. In our lessons you can expect a clear structure: we build solid technique from the very first day, but always in the service of music you actually enjoy playing — never as an end in itself. As a longtime ear training professor, I place special emphasis on developing your musical ear alongside your fingers: understanding what you play, hearing it internally, and connecting theory to the keyboard in a natural, practical way. Whether you are a complete beginner, a returning adult student, or an advanced player preparing repertoire, we will set concrete goals together and design a path to reach them.

Online teaching is not an adaptation for me — it is my specialty. My conservatory degree includes a formal specialization in music technology, I taught Technology and Music Education at the university level for over a decade, and I have published research on remote and hybrid music teaching. That means our online lessons take full advantage of the format: good audio, clear camera angles on the keyboard, digital materials, and recordings you can review between lessons. I can help you with classical repertoire from baroque to contemporary, and I am also delighted to introduce you to the piano music of my country — tango and Argentine folk styles — a unique repertoire that develops rhythm, expression, and a whole new musical world at the keyboard.