Diego Elias is an accomplished pianist, composer, sound engineer and artist. Before formally studying music, he went through two years of studying architecture, which was key to learning the fundamentals of art and building concepts that he would later apply to his music.

 

He formally began his studies at the National Conservatory of Lima, Peru, as a music composer, then switched to studying sound engineering at Orson Wells institute where he graduated first in his class, with honors.

 

For over 20 years, Diego has composed and experimented with music as a musician, sound engineer, and architect, which led him to design and produce unique ways of making music and creating new sounds.

 

Diego's personal approach to teaching comes from a composer's perspective, and it is intended to provide the student the tools and knowledge necessary to later become a composer, if desired. He puts a strong emphasis on proper execution, posture, and reading music.  Diego also places special importance on understanding music theory and the physics of sound so the student can create and develop their own original and unique style.

 

Diego has a very eclectic taste for music, which includes music from 1800s-1900s (Debussy, Prokofiev, Ravel), Bossa Nova, Rock from the 60s - 90s, Progressive Rock, Hard Rock, Bluegrass, Latin rhythms, and numerous scores from a variety of movies, TV shows and video games (Hans Zimmer, John Williams, Yann Tiersen).

 

Self-taught in digital arts, 3D animation and video editing, Diego has produced music for animated films that gained international recognition and awards. His work includes credits from both the film and video games industries. Diego also created and patented a unique music instrument called Derophone, which he uses on some of his compositions.

 

Diego understands and appreciates the importance of music and creativity for students of all ages and takes pride in teaching and contributing to other's formation and development. Diego can teach lessons in both English and Spanish. We are very excited to welcome Diego to our muse mantra family as a piano and music production teacher!