Today we’d like to introduce you to Donald Vega.

Hi Donald, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?

I started playing piano by ear at age 3. I come from a musical family, my father and uncle are both well-known musicians in Nicaragua. I was classically trained on piano from an early age at a conservatory in Managua, the capital of Nicaragua, but I always loved to improvise and reimagine the melodies and rhythms of the music I learned.

Nicaragua was in the midst of a civil war, and so as teenager, I immigrated to the United States. My family settled in Los Angeles, CA and my mother found a conservatory nearby where I could continue to develop my craft.

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?

Donald Vega immigrated to the United States at the age of 14 from his native Nicaragua where his grandfather and uncle are both celebrated musicians. Donald took after them both and began playing music when he was three years old. He attended the conservatory in Managua, the capital of Nicaragua, and is a classically trained pianist. However, Nicaragua, was in the midst of a civil war and young boys Donald’s age were regularly scooped up and sent to the army to help in the fight. To prevent this, and to allow her son to develop his musical gifts, Donald’s mom arranged for her family to move to the United States. She came first to prepare a place for them. When she was ready, Donald and his Godmother flew to Tijuana, met up with a coyote, and ran across the border while helicopters flew over head. Not everyone in their group made it to the U.S. that night, but Donald and his Godmother did. The date was July 4th, 1989.

When he arrived to the US Donald spoke no English, and lived with his family in a single room in South Central Los Angeles – just a few miles from where he would later attend the University of Southern California. The local gangs recognized that Donald was different. He was a musician through and through, not a fighter, and they, amazingly, left him and his family alone and told others to do the same. Donald attended Crenshaw High School where one of his teachers, Mrs. Stevenson, heard him play the piano one day, and discovered his incredible gift. She made sure that he had time and space at school each day to practice. What a wonderful reminder of the positive impact teachers can have on our lives. Mrs. Stevenson and Donald are still in contact today.

In time, Donald’s mother was able to get him a used piano, and eventually found the Colburn School of Performing Arts where Donald took lessons on scholarship. The Colburn family took Donald under his wing, developing his piano skills, and giving him the musical home he was missing. Meanwhile, in 1989, the same year Donald came to the US, the great drummer Billy Higgins co-founded The World Stage in Leimart Park – not too far from where Donald would eventually live. Donald, of course, found his way to The World Stage where Billy Higgins ultimately became one of his first jazz mentors and a pivotal figure in his life. During that time, Donald’s family suffered a house fire, and Donald once again was without a piano.

Meanwhile, Donald had the added challenge of being born with a cleft palate. While some reconstruction surgery was done at the time of his birth, it was not complete. The birth defect lead to severe hearing loss, which was significant for Donald by the time he arrived to the United States. He often read lips to try to understand people. In a twist of fate that can only reinforce the existence of angels and goodness in the world – Donald entered and won the Los Angeles Music Center’s Spotlight competition for young artists. Because of this competition, more eyes were on him than ever. A wonderful benefactor discovered he had no piano, and gifted him a beautiful, new Yamaha. Another benefactor heard about his medical challenges, and paid for his reconstruction surgeries, which restored his hearing. The surgeon played Donald’s music while she operated. Donald is still in close contact with those wonderful people who so lovingly supported him.

Over the years in Los Angeles Donald connected with amazing musicians, and was fortunate to call several world class jazz artists mentors and friends: Billy Higgins, conguero Francisco Aguabella, and two great bass players Al McKibbon and John Clayton – who even asked Donald to be his own son’s piano teacher, Gerald Clayton. (Other notable students of Donald’s include Grammy winner Kris Bowers, pop sensation Charlie Puth, and celebrated pianist Matthew Whitaker).

Donald eventually went on to attend the University of Southern California, Manhattan School of Music, and The Juilliard School – where he is now a professor of jazz studies. He has been the piano player in Ron Carter’s Trio for the last 15 years, taking over the piano chair from the great Mulgrew Miller. His latest album, As I Travel, is a musical biography of his unique journey, and is Grammy nominated for Best Latin Jazz Album.

While Donald’s music is full of technical mastery, what strikes most people, is his ability to infuse his personal journey into every composition, creating melodic works that are both memorable and emotionally resonant with listeners. His goal is always to connect and spread joy through his music. He carefully crafts a musical journey for listeners, ensuring each chord, rhythm, and lyrical expression conveys his intent. He hopes listeners feel the personal stories and inspiration embedded in his compositions, while also experiencing the song’s artistic depth, technical prowess, and emotional storytelling.

Donald Vega’s journey is one of resilience, inspiration, and artistry—a story worth telling and a tale worth hearing.

Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?

I am a jazz pianist and composer. I am best known for my improvisational skill and the melodic lines I create when composing.

Below are two press quotes that best encapsulate the feeling of this work I do:

“[As I Travel] is one of those collections that consistently engages you as it takes you on a musical journey of nine tunes, is full of interesting twists and turns. You will enjoy all of the stops that Vega makes as he travels.” -Jersey Jazz, November 2023

“Always and everywhere melody and harmony is held together by rippling, tumbling rhythms, clearly embedded in body and soul with which Mr Vega leans into his music.” – Latin Jazz Net, November 2023

In 2023 I was named a Guggenheim Fellow for Composition by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation. This allowed me to take time and space to write and record a new album, As I Travel (Imagery Records, 2023) which earned a Grammy Nomination for Best Latin Jazz Album.

I am incredibly proud that my peers and members of the Recording Academy recognized my work in this way.

I often say, we do this work because we love it, because we are passionate about it. Getting recognized is the cherry on top – a wonderful, added bonus, to doing what we love.

In that 2023 recording session were 3 additional tunes not yet released. They will be coming out this year, so readers should be on the look out for those works! The first single will be released on March 28, 2025 and is titled Two Words: Bud Powell (Imagery Records / Tiger Turn). This straight ahead mid tempo tune was composed by Donald Vega and inspired by Bud Powell – one of the first names in Jazz Vega learned after immigrating to the US and settling in Los Angeles.

If we knew you growing up, how would we have described you?

I was a very curious child. I questioned everything, and wanted to know about everything. But I was also content to sit and create stories and music on my own. I could play for hours independently as long as I was creating.

When I moved to Los Angeles, life was more challenging than in the small town in Nicaragua where I grew up. Everything moved so fast in Los Angeles, and I didn’t speak the language – so most people considered me very quiet and shy. But really, I just didn’t know how to talk to them!

As an adult, I am still curious about everything, and of course, I still love to create.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.donaldvega.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/donaldvegamusic/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/donaldvegamusic
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@donaldvegapianist7926

Image Credits

Shervin Lainez and Winnie Au