Trio Virado is a unique collaboration of three of the most distinguished artists on flute, viola, and guitar. Flutist Amy Porter, violist Jaime Amador, and guitarist João Luiz are widely sought after for their musical performances on recordings and the concert stage. Joining together, they form a concert trio that radiates electricity and love of music. Trio Virado is represented worldwide by New York-based Sciolino Artist Management.

Amy Porter, flute
Flutist Amy Porter has been praised by critics for her exceptional musical talent and passion for scholarship. In a versatile and distinguished career as a concert performer, she has become one of the most skilled and creative muses for composers of our time. Winner of the Kobe and Paris/Ville d’Avry international flute competitions, Ms. Porter has been hailed for her “strength, beauty, a captivating and seductive force, sensitivity, perfection, and a sense of humor.” She is a founding member of the flute-viola-guitar ensemble Trio Virado and a highly accomplished orchestral soloist. Her performances of American flute concerti have won critical acclaim. She premiered Michael Daugherty’s flute concerto Trail of Tears with the Omaha Symphony in 2010, and has since performed it with multiple orchestras; her recording of that work with the Albany Symphony Orchestra prompted the Albany Times Union to write, "The focus remained on Porter’s beautiful tone color and Daugherty’s imaginative deployment of the orchestra." American Record Guide has lauded her playing for having "an innocent American lyricism..." and a reviewer for annarbor.com noted that “Amy Porter deeply imbues her performance with a sense of narrative and of speech and, yes, drama.” Formerly a member of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, Ms. Porter is Principal Flute of North Carolina’s Brevard Music Center, where she performs as soloist, chamber musician, and orchestral player. Since 1999 she has served as Professor of Flute at the University of Michigan School of Music, Theatre & Dance. She is host of the podcast PorterFlute Pod. Born in Wilmington, DE, Ms. Porter graduated from The Juilliard School and pursued further studies at the Mozarteum Academy in Salzburg. She plays a 14K white gold flute with rose gold engraved keys, made for her by the Wm. S. Haynes Co.

Jaime Amador, viola
Hailed by The Washington Post for his “sophisticated and precise playing,” Jaime Amador has distinguished himself among the latest generation of musicians to emerge from Puerto Rico. He joined the flute-viola-guitar ensemble Trio Virado in 2021, and since 2012 has been the violist of Harlem Quartet, which tours widely and recently began a teaching and performance residency at Montclair State University in northeast New Jersey. A native of San Juan, Puerto Rico, Mr. Amador has appeared in prestigious venues across the United States and Europe, including Carnegie Hall, Avery Fisher Hall, the Palais des Beaux-Arts in Brussels, and the Kurhaus of Baden-Baden. He has collaborated with such distinguished musicians as Chick Corea, Ida Kavafian, Fred Sherry, Emanuel Borok, and Misha Dichter. Mr. Amador has performed and taught at numerous venues including the Royal College of Music (London), Accademia Musicale Chigiana (Siena, Italy), Escuela Superior de Música Reina Sofía (Madrid), FOSJA Youth Festival (San Juan), Meadowmount School of Music (Westport, New York), and the New Jersey Academy of Music. In addition to leading masterclasses in Puerto Rico and across the U.S., he has made outreach programs a priority, bringing music to those with limited opportunities and to a society in need of healing through the arts. Before joining Harlem Quartet Mr. Amador was a member of the Puerto Rico Symphony Orchestra, which also awarded him First Prize in its Solo Competition for his interpretation of Béla Bartók’s Viola Concerto. Following studies at the Puerto Rico Conservatory of Music he continued his training at The Juilliard School, Manhattan School of Music, and New England Conservatory. His instrument is a Ryan Soltis 2010 viola.

João Luiz, guitar
Guitarist, educator, and composer João Luiz began to play the popular music of his native Brazil professionally as a child, and was later trained in classical guitar by his mentor Henrique Pinto. A member of the critically acclaimed Brasil Guitar Duo, he has performed extensively in the United States, Asia, Europe, and Latin America, including a landmark 2014 concert in Cuba featuring the world premiere of Leo Brouwer’s quartet El arco y la lira, written for the duo and cellists Yo-Yo Ma and Carlos Prieto. Mr. Luiz co-founded Trio Virado in 2011 with flutist Amy Porter and violist Juan-Miguel Hernandez to promote contemporary Latin American chamber music. The trio’s CD Mangabeira, released in 2015, features world premiere recordings of works written specially for the trio by Clarice Assad, Frederic Hand, and Leo Brouwer. Mr. Luiz’s most recent solo album features 20th-century guitar works by Brazilian composers such as Radamés Gnattali, Camargo Guarnieri, and Egberto Gismonti. As a performer and composer Mr. Luiz is equally at home with classical, Brazilian, and world music. His Harp Concerto Recife, written for harpist Bridget Kibbey, was premiered by the Orlando Philharmonic in 2019. Recent commissions include works for the USC Thornton School of Music guitar department, Conjunto Sicarú, GFA, and Duo Sonidos. He has recorded more than fifteen albums as a soloist or as member of a duo, trio, or quartet; most have featured his arrangements of classical or Brazilian works. Mr. Luiz holds a Master’s degree from Mannes College The New School for Music and a Doctoral degree from Manhattan School of Music. He is currently director of chamber music at the City University of New York’s Hunter College, and also teaches guitar at Stony Brook University and Mannes.

September 2021

Do not make any alterations to this biography. Concert presenters and other interested parties may obtain an updated and/or abridged version by contacting Katie Masterson, katie@samnyc.us.