Peter Parra, 15, is a sophomore at Mountain View High School in California and studies piano with Professor Yoshikazu Nagai at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music Pre-College Division. A 2022–2024 Young Scholar of the Lang Lang International Music Foundation, he is a 2025–2026 US Chopin Foundation Scholarship recipient, a 2025–2026 NPR From the Top Fellow, and a 2025 Laureate of the Ross McKee Foundation Piano Competition.
Peter has performed across the United States, Europe, and Asia. In 2025, he appeared in the Cleveland Institute of Music’s Extravaganza concert, performed in Music@Menlo’s Koret Young Performers Concerts, played at the Musikfestspiele Saar in Germany, and performed on the Great Wall of China, where he was appointed a 2025–2026 Culture Ambassador of the Great Wall. His performances and interviews have been featured on WQED Pittsburgh and Interlochen Public Radio’s Intermezzo (2025), and aired nationally on NPR’s From the Top in 2026.
A multiple top-prize winner, Peter has earned First Place at the 2026 San Francisco Chopin Competition, CAPMT Honors State Final, Elevato International Competition, and the Marilyn Mindell Piano Competition. He has received Second Place at the Chicago International Music Competition, Pacific Music Society Competition, ENKOR International Music Competition, KAMSA Competition, and BMC Competition. Peter is also a finalist of the Kaufman International Piano Competition (June 2026).
Peter has attended prestigious festivals on scholarship, including the Aspen Music Festival (2024, 2025), where he studied with Yoheved Kaplinsky, Music@Menlo (2025), Frost Chopin Academy (2024), and the Cleveland Piano Institute (2023, 2025). He was accepted to the PianoTexas Young Artist Program and the Aspen Music Festival (2026), both with full scholarships. Peter has performed in masterclasses with renowned artists including Steven Spooner, Ilana Vered, Victor Rosenbaum, Antonio Pompa-Baldi, Alexander Kobrin, Kevin Kenner, Ning An, Anton Nel, Ingmar Lazar, and Armen Babakhanyan.
Committed to service, Peter founded and directs the Back to Bach Project’s California–Mountain View–Los Altos Region and regularly performs at UCSF Children’s Hospital Family House.
Outside of piano, Peter is a nationally top-ranked competitive junior ballroom dancer, a math and science enthusiast, and is fluent in Chinese.
J. S. Bach, Prelude and Fugue in C major, BWV 870 (0:00)
F. Chopin, Etude, Op. 25, No. 11 in A minor (4:50)
F. Chopin, Ballade No. 1 in G minor, Op. 23 (9:07)
