15-year old pianist, Antonio “Nio” Ajero is a scholarship winner from the Texas Commission of the Arts under their Texas Young Masters Program. Nio has attended the Aspen Music Festival & School where he performed on their student spotlight series and studied with Veda Kaplinsky. The previous summer, he participated in the Cremona International Music Festival in Italy studying under Derek Chiu. Nio has also attended the PianoTexas Festival at Texas Christian University where he performed in concerts and studied with Vladimir Ovchinnikov and Igor Resnianski. 

Ajero has appeared twice on NPR’s From The Top. Nio currently studies piano with Andrew and Linda Parr at Stephen F. Austin State University. He has won numerous competitions including the Baylor/Waco Piano Competition, Texas State University’s Young Artist Piano Competition, the SMU Institute for Young Pianists Competition, and the Steinway & Sons Junior Piano Competition. Nio is a two-time National Gold Medalist from The Royal Conservatory for earning the highest marks in the United States for the Level 9 and 10 Piano Exams. 

He has performed in piano masterclasses with Fabio Bidini, Kenny Broberg, Hung- Kuan Chen, Sean Chen, Enrico Elisi, Vadym Kholodenko, Alexander Kobrin, Julian Martin, Alex McDonald, and Tamás Ungar.