Musical Foundation
Technique, rhythm, listening, reading, and expression are built patiently from the first lessons.
About YOMA Music Academy
Based in Houston, YOMA Music Academy offers piano instruction and artistic formation for children, teens, and adults through a thoughtful, human, and professional approach.
YOMA Music Academy
In our academy, students are not treated as identical learners. We begin by understanding their age, goals, musical background, personality, schedule, and relationship with music.
Technique, rhythm, listening, reading, and expression are built patiently from the first lessons.
Students receive structure and encouragement without intimidation or unnecessary pressure.
Lessons are designed to help students grow in confidence, culture, discipline, and emotional connection.
Teaching Philosophy
Yarima's approach combines the rigor of conservatory training with a patient and personal understanding of each student. Lessons are structured, but never mechanical.
Strong artistry begins with rhythm, reading, listening, technique, and healthy practice habits.
Each student grows at a different pace. Instruction adapts to age, personality, goals, and learning style.
Music is not only accuracy. Students learn to communicate, feel, listen, and share with confidence.
Yarima Orellana is a Cuban pianist, educator, arranger, composer, choreographer, and musical director with more than 25 years of teaching and performance experience.
Born in Mayari, Holguin, Cuba, Yarima began formal piano studies at age seven. Her early musical education took place at the Vocational School of Arts 'Raul Gomez Garcia,' where discipline, listening, and artistic seriousness became part of her foundation.
Yarima graduated from the Conservatory 'Jose Maria Ochoa' on May 22, 1998, with a Bachelor's Degree in Piano Performance and Piano Pedagogy. The Cuban conservatory system shaped her understanding of technique, repertoire, rigor, and the responsibility of teaching music with depth.
She began teaching in 1996, and her official professional career as a piano educator began in September 1998. Her work includes experience as a piano professor, repetiteur pianist for Lyrical Theater 'Rodrigo Prats,' singer with Orfeon de Holguin, and educator connected to 'Raul Camayd.'
Yarima's artistic journey has included performances in Guardalavaca, Corsica Ferries in Italy and France, Moscow, and Lima with Timberos All Stars. Her career has crossed classical, lyrical, popular, and Latin music contexts.
Beyond piano, Yarima has worked as founder, director, choreographer, and dancer of the Spanish Ballet of the Lyrical Theater 'Rodrigo Prats.' This multidisciplinary background informs her belief that music education should develop the whole artist: mind, body, emotion, discipline, and expression.
Her collaborations include Orquesta Hermanos Aviles, Zenda, Entre Lineas, and Tumbaka. In Houston, she has performed at Houston Latin Fest and Houston Salsa Fest and has accompanied artists including Maelo Ruiz, David Pavon, Tony Vega, members of Sonora Poncena, and Eddy Marcano.
Yarima arrived in the United States in November 2022 and began building her work in Houston from home as a newly arrived immigrant. YOMA Music Academy grew from that beginning into an educational project guided by resilience, passion, family, discipline, and service.
After arriving in the United States, Yarima began working at Siena Montessori School in 2024, teaching music and piano to children between the ages of 3 and 5. Her experience with young children, autism, and diverse learning needs strengthened her individualized approach through creativity, patience, structure, empathy, and emotional connection.
YOMA stands for Yarima Orellana Music Academy. It also carries a family meaning: Yarima, Orellana, Maritza, Alejandra, and Arturo. The academy is both a professional music education brand and a deeply personal expression of family, legacy, and purpose.
Begin the Conversation
YOMA begins by understanding the student: age, experience, learning style, schedule, goals, and relationship with music.