Born in Almeria, he studied in Murcia, Granada and Madrid, obtaining higher degrees in Piano and Chamber Music. Later he moved to Dallas (USA) where he obtained the Artist Certificate in Piano Performance. He also completed postgraduate studies at the Universities of Granada (Diploma of Advanced Studies) and Universidad Rey Juan Carlos I (Master in Musical Creation and Performance). His main teachers have been Guillermo González and Joaquín Achúcarro, having received advice from Abbey Simon, Paul Badura-Skoda, Mihail Voskresensky or Ricardo Requejo, among others. Throughout his training, he was awarded eight prizes in different piano competitions and contests, including first prize in the IX International Piano Competition “Ciudad de Ferrol”, “Rosa Sabater” prize in the XXXVI International Competition “Premio Jaén-1994”, “Tamas Vesmas” prize in the JJ.MM. Competition in Granada, “Andrés Segovia” prize in the “Música en Compostela” courses and the “Diploma di Merito” from the Accademia Musicale Chigiana in Siena (Italy).
His concert activity is intense, having offered nearly two hundred recitals and concerts, performed in major auditoriums in Spain, as well as in Italy, France, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Finland, Estonia, Lithuania, United States, Brazil, Venezuela, Peru, Costa Rica, Paraguay and Dominican Republic, performing in recital and as soloist of several orchestras (Symphony Orchestra of Galicia, Youth Orchestra of Andalusia, New Symphony Orchestra of Bulgaria, Orchestra of the Conservatory of Granada, Youth Symphony Orchestra of Granada). He has made two recordings, playing “Nights in the gardens of Spain” by Falla and piano music by Angel Barrios, as well as recordings for radio and television, highlighting a monograph on Canal Sur TV in which he played the sonata “Waldstein” by Beethoven and the sonata in B minor by Liszt. He has recently recorded two CDs for Naxos, entirely dedicated to Isaac Albéniz.
Miguel Ángel R. Laiz is considered a true specialist in Spanish piano music. His extensive knowledge of its fundamentals and his commitment to a genuine approach to its technique and spirit throughout more than 25 years of pedagogical, academic and artistic activity have earned him invitations from prestigious European and American institutions to give master classes and lectures: “Manuel de Falla” courses in Granada, “F. Chopin” Academy in Warsaw (Warsaw), “Manuel de Falla” courses in Granada, and “F. Chopin” Academy in Warsaw. Chopin” Academy in Warsaw (Poland), University of Timisoara (Romania), Sibelius Academy in Helsinki (Finland) or the University of San José (Costa Rica).
Since 1994 he has been professor of piano by competitive examination and, since 2017, professor of piano at the Royal Conservatory “Victoria Eugenia” in Granada
“Miguel’s affinity to Spanish music is undeniable. Excellent his Albéniz and Granados. (…) The ‘Alborada del gracioso’, impeccable; a display of technique and sound that the audience recognized and rewarded.”
Jaén Newspaper, 1995
“The delight of the disc is the playing of Miguel Ángel Láiz, a Spanish pianist with an enormously successful career that has also taken him into the field of teaching. Laiz shapes the disc with such feeling that it takes on an innocent charm, delicately nuanced phrasing and subtle color changes, never being afraid to play with tempos and rhythms. The sound quality is excellent.”
David’s Review Corner. December, 2017
“Laiz’s sound is warm and detailed, […] he resolves in a sensitive and imaginative way with an excellent graduation of climaxes, a careful sonority and reaching a superior level in the Spanish Rhapsody in which he unfolds with mystery at the beginning, singing well the malagueña, elegant and solemn in the petenera, to shine controlledly in the jota.”
RITMO Magazine. March, 2018