Pia Ugarte Elliott is the Founder and Director of The Ugarte Studio as well as the Founder and Artistic Director of the former performing arts organization known as Voices and the female vocal band Zaphyra.

     Her music career started in Peru under the tutelage of Maestro Manuel Cuadros Barr, Founder and Artistic Director of Camerata Vocale Orfeo and Artistic Advisor to the President of the Republic of Peru.  Encouraged by her first mentor, she moved to New York were she continued her vocal studies at The Juilliard School and New York University.  She continued to coach opera under world-acclaimed opera conductor Maestro Vincent La Selva, Founder and Artistic Director of New York Grand Opera, winning an apprentice scholarship with the company and further performing in many of the company's concerts at Carnegie Hall and fully staged opera productions in Central Park.  Her association with the company covered more than three decades, until the passing of Maestro La Selva and closing of the company. 

     In 1996, Pia moved to Atlanta where she has continued performing and is glad to contribute to the artistic life of the city and surrounding areas.  In addition to her career in music, she continues to act, write, and produce.  In 2010, she completed the filming of Angel's Wings in the role of Ms. Linda. As a voice over talent, she has dubbed video productions for companies like IBM among others and handles multiple languages in diverse accents.  In December of 2018, she worked on a project for the High Museum in Atlanta; a performance that involved curating Christmas music that correlated to the exhibitions showing at the time.  Currently, she working on a combined recording and writing project titled Songs for Eli composed by Lithuanian pianist, Inna Satunovsky.

     The Ugarte Studio was established in 1996 and has been providing high quality instruction in music, performance and drama since its inception. Studio members and graduates are consistently seen performing leads and placing and winning local, national and international competitions in multiple styles; from the Kiwanis Talent Showcase to the Hal Leonard Vocal Competition, Classical Singer and The Voice.  In certain instances where multiple studio members have participated, 40 percent of winners and finalists have belonged to the studio.  If not so already, many studio members go ahead to pursue professional careers in performing and music and are accepted to institutions of higher learning with honors and scholarships.   

     The studio's former summer program has allowed members to experience performing with organizations like New York Grand Opera in Central Park as part of their fully-staged productions under the baton of Maestro La Selva.  Through this program, students have had access to private master classes with Maestro La Selva and Dianna Heldman, Associate Director of Vocal Performance at New York University's Steinhart School as well as with Manhattans School of Music Technology Division.  Additionally, studio members audition and are accepted to prime performing arts organizations as the Spivey Hall Children's Choir, New York Grand Opera, and the Atlanta Opera where 4 out of the 12 members of the children's choir have belonged to The Ugarte Studio.

    In her writing capacity, Pia was the Performing Arts Reviewer for Examiner.com until its closure and has contributed to Diario El Comercio in Peru as Cultural Correspondent in New York. She is a member of  NATS (National Association of Singers of Music), The Recording Academy, and has been a member of MTNA/GMTA as well as an adjudicator for the Shuler-Hensley Awards (Atlanta Chapter of the High School Musical Theater Awards.)​​