Alvaro Pierri was born in Montevideo, Uruguay, where he was introduced to music at an early age by his mother, the pianist Ada Estades. By the time he was 7, he was taking guitar lessons from his aunt, the well-known Uruguayan guitarist Olga Pierri. He also studied with Abel Carlevaro and Guido Santorsola and at the Uruguayan National Institute of Musicology. Pierri won his first award at the age of eleven and went on to win just about every prize offered to young musicians in Uruguay and abroad, including the First Prizes at the Buenos Aires International Guitar Competition in Argentina, at the Porto Alegre International Guitar Competition in Brazil, and First Prize and Gold Medal at the 18th Paris International Guitar Competition. Alvaro Pierri has performed extensively throughout Europe, North and South America, appearing in solo recitals and with major orchestras, chamber and percussion groups, conducting master classes and performing on radio and television. He is regularly invited to participate in festivals throughout the world. He has given the world premiere of many new works, often written for him, by Brouwer, Santorsola, Hétu, Schwartz, Lanza, Carlevaro, Rougier, Gonzalez, Gramatges, Borsody, and many others. Alvaro Pierri is also Professor at the Université du Québec à Montréal.