Luis Urbina was born in Caracas, Venezuela . He began his musical studies at the age of 9 on the piano and at age 10 with the cello. He was considered a prodigy in his middle school and high school music programs, where he served as a musical leader and role model for other students. He began to study with Dr. Paul Posnak at the age of 13. He studied with him for four years and won a variety of local and state music competitions as a young pianist. He also entered as a semifinalist in the Lennox International Competition and on the first round of theGina-Bachauer Competition. He excelled in competitions as Bass Voice singer in his high school years. Luis began his studies with Giselle Brodsky, Artistic Director of the Miami International Festival, in the summer of 2009. She introduced Luis to the Taubman approach, an approach to piano playing which involves the understanding of physical motions in relation to playing the instrument, and how the right physical motions trigger the right musical results. With this approach, Luis felt a tremendous growth in his playing. In the summer of 2010 he had the amazing opportunity,under auspices of the Miami International Piano Festival and the Summit Music Festival, to audition and be chosen to perform a recital with legendary violinist Ida Haendel. This was for him a deep learning experience. He feels privileged to be part of the Miami International Piano Festival family that provides the opportunity not only to work with Giselle Brodsky, but also the artists of her festival that reside in and out of Miami. He has had the opportunity to study with Frank Cooper, Misha Dacic, Jorge Luis Prats, Ilya Itin, and Kemal Gekic, all of whom he considers close mentors. Luis attended Florida International University in the Spring of 2011 to study with Kemal Gekic. Urbina is currently performing regularly as a solo and collaborative pianist.
