About Richard

“Peña is a talented and driven artist with a unique sound. In particular, he is an excellent guitarist with a truly one-of-a-kind style which transcends genre boundaries and definitions.”

— Jazz Corner Magazine

Puerto Rican guitarist Richard Peña intricately blends the traditional sounds of Afro-Caribbean music with the modern raw energy of jazz and bebop improvisation through his guitars' warm and cutting sound.

As an artist, Peña has won awards such as Youth Jazz Ambassador (2015, Amigos del Jazz Humacao Association) and "Best Guitarist" (2015, Escuela Libre de Música San Juan). He has recorded 4 award-winning albums (Fox Music USA Latin Music Awards 2015, 18th Independent Music Awards, Best 20 Albums of 2019 by the National Foundation for Popular Culture, 2020 Grant by the Instituto de Cultura Puertorriqueña and National Endowment for the Arts). Richard has performed with players ranging from Latin Grammy Winners such as Horacio "El Negro" Hernandez, Dafnis Prieto, Henry Cole, and Charlie Sepulveda, to singers Carlos Vives, and Víctor Manuelle across the globe.

As an educator, Richard creates jazz guitar lessons across social platforms to an audience of over 260k followers and a community of over 2,000 members on his Patreon page, where he has shared over 500 video lessons, ebooks, masterclasses, livestreams, and more.