Former principal percussionist of the Costa Rica National Symphony Orchestra, Fernando Meza has been director of percussion studies at the University of Minnesota School of Music since 1993. Meza holds degrees from the University of Michigan and Baylor University, and has been on the faculties of The Ohio State University, the National Center of Music, and the University of Costa Rica. Meza is recognized for his versatility in both educational and performance arenas and can be heard regularly with the Minnesota Orchestra and the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra among others. He has toured and recorded throughout Latin America, USA, Europe, Japan, and Lithuania, with such renowned artists as Keiko Abe, Nebojsa Zivkovic, and the Bakken Trio, and was one of the original percussionists for the award-winning Broadway production of Disney’s The Lion King. As presenter and organizer of the Marimba 2010 International Festival and Conference, a 3½ day event which brought together over 50 of the world’s leading marimba artists to the Twin Cities, Meza is actively engaged in expanding the art form of percussion.  To this end, he has recorded with a number of artists for the Denon-Columbia, BIS, Reference, Equilibrium, Sony, Turtle, and D’Note music labels, as well as produced his own solo recording of Suites for Unaccompanied Cello by J.S. Bach performed on marimba, which can be found through cdbaby.com, iTunes, and other digital music providers. Fernando is in demand as an adjudicator, clinician, and guest artist internationally, and serves as an educational and/or performing artist for Zildjian, Grover ProPercussion, and Yamaha Corporation.