Marina Lopez is a Pittsburgh-based composer and educator. Born and raised in Mexico City, she has a deep interest in exploring the psychological, ethnomusicological, and physical roots of her heritage.
She began her musical studies at Mexico’s National Autonomous University, where she studied Piano Performance under Silvia Alonso Abreu. After relocating to the United States in 2011, she continued her studies at Duquesne University, where she obtained her Bachelor of Arts degree in Spring of 2015.
She started pursuing musical composition in Fall of 2012, under the guidance of the late Dr. David Stock.
In 2014 her piece Sunstroke was selected by Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra as part of their 10th Annual Student Composers Reading Session. Her music has been performed by the Transient Canvas, the Carnegie Mellon University Contemporary Ensemble, the Carnegie Mellon University Philharmonic, Kamratōn ensemble, Boston's White Snake Project, The Chamber Orchestra of Pittsburgh, amongst others.
In the Spring of 2018, she completed her Master's level studies in Musical Composition at Carnegie Mellon University, under Leonardo Balada.
Her first Opera 'Not Our First American' was premiered at Pittsburgh Opera on April 13th, 2019, as part of Co-Opera; a year-long collaboration between Pittsburgh Opera and Carnegie Mellon’s Music and Drama departments. Through the Fall of 2019, she worked with Alia Musica Pittsburgh, a non-for-profit which helps nurture the New Music scene in Pittsburgh.
In March of 2022, she was selected to be part of the American Composers’ Orchestra Earshot reading series with the Houston Symphony Orchestra. She is currently engaged in a project with Boston’s White Snake Project opera company amongst others.
From the Fall of 2020 through Spring of 2021 she developed and led an after-school program with a local nonprofit Casa San Jose that will provide an opportunity for Pittsburgh Area Latin American children to explore their musical and cultural heritage.
She is currently working with Volta Music Foundation, which seeks to make music education accessible to students in need in Latin America and creating music programs that help underserved communities in the U.S.