Honored as 2022 Classical Woman of the Year by Performance Today, American pianist Lara Downes has been called “a musical ray of hope” by NBC News and “an explorer whose imag-ination is fired by bringing notice to the underrepresented and forgotten” (The Log Journal). An iconoclast and trailblazer, her dynamic work as a sought-after soloist, a Billboard Chart-topping recording artist, a producer, curator, arts activist and advocate positions her as a cultural visionary on the national arts scene. Lara’s musical roadmap seeks inspiration from the legacies of history, family, and collective memory, excavating a broad landscape of music to create a series of acclaimed performance and recording projects that serve as gathering spaces for her listeners to find common ground and shared experience. Lara’s recent and upcoming onstage adventures include guest appearances with the Philadelphia Orchestra, the Boston Pops, Detroit Symphony Orchestra, Louisville Orchestra, and Indianapolis Sym-phony Orchestra, with recitals and residencies at Lincoln Center, Ravinia, the Gilmore Festi-val, Carolina Performing Arts, Washington Performing Arts, Caramoor, Saratoga Performing Arts Center, the Cabrillo Festival, and Oregon Bach Festival, among others. Lara enjoys crea-tive collaborations with an eclectic range of artists including folk icon Judy Collins, musical multi-hyphenate Rhiannon Giddens, the Miró Quartet, pianist Simone Dinnerstein, former U.S. Poet Laureate Rita Dove, Broadway legend Brian Stokes Mitchell, author John McWhorter, baritone Thomas Hampson, and violinist Daniel Hope. Her close partnerships with prominent composers span genres and generations, with premieres and commissions coming from Arturo O’Farrill, Adolphus Hailstork, Jennifer Higdon, Billy Childs, Paola Presti-ni, Jimmy Lopez-Bellido, Teddy Abrams, Clarice Assad, and many others.
Photo credit to Max Barrett.
Executive Chef Reyna Venegas prepares fresh and delicious food that energizes, inspires, and nourishes guests. She fuses the culinary and cultural heritages of her own Northern Baja roots with the nutritious “spa cuisine” pioneered 80 years ago by Rancho La Puerta co-founder Deborah Szekely. At La Cocina Que Canta, “The Kitchen That Sings,” Chef Reyna teaches healthy eating as a celebration of life in farm-to-table cooking classes. As a lifelong learner, Chef Reyna attends the University of California, San Diego’s Integrative Nutrition program, which focuses on how food promotes wellness. She is also a graduate of the Culinary Art School in Tijuana, and holds a Pastry Degree from the Lycée Technique et Hôtelier de Monte-Carlo and Fondation Turquois. She and her husband Chef Marcelo Hisaki own Restaurante Amores, a hidden culinary jewel in the heart of Baja. Their cuisine is influenced by Mexican, Japanese and French cultures, using local produce with respect, love, and creativity. They have been selected by the Michelin Guide Mexico in 2024 and received the Exceptional Service Award.
