Ricardo Arana is an award-winning composer, arranger, and educator based in Las Vegas, Nevada, currently serving as an Adjunct Professor of Jazz Composition and Arranging at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. His work has been performed by prestigious artists and ensembles, including four-time Grammy Award winner Lyle Lovett, Kenny Rampton, Vincent Herring, Adam Schroeder, Rachel Eckroth, the USAF Airmen of Note, and the UNT One O’Clock Lab Band.

Ricardo is the recipient of the 2025 National Band Association Young Jazz Composer Prize for his piece “Opportunity and Freedom,” performed live at the 79th Midwest Clinic by the USAF Airmen of Note. He is also the winner of the "Best Original Large Ensemble Composition" award from the 47th DownBeat Student Music Awards for his studio orchestra piece “Onto The Next,” and "Best Original Film Score" at the 2024 Vegas Movie Awards for the film “Underneath,” written and directed by Chase Korzep. Additionally, he was honored to present his original composition “Almost There” at the 2024 ISJAC Symposium for the New Music Workshop curated by Ayn Inserto and Ryan Middagh and was also praised by Ken Franckling of JazzTimes as 'exquisite.'

As an educator, Ricardo currently teaches several classes at UNLV, including Beginning and Advanced Jazz Composition and Arranging and Introduction to Film Scoring, and has a studio of award-winning students. He has also adjudicated multiple of the premiere high school jazz programs of the West Coast at the Essentially Ellington Las Vegas regional, as well as taught professional development lectures to band directors of Nevada at the Nevada All-State Festival and Conference.

Ricardo holds a Master of Music from the University of North Texas, where he studied with Grammy Nominated composer Richard DeRosa as a Jamey Aebersold Scholarship recipient. He earned his Bachelor of Music from UNLV, where he was mentored by Nathan Tanouye and Dave Loeb, and was a recipient of the Joe Williams Foundation scholarship.

Alongside SSG Eric Weaver, he co-leads his jazz orchestra, the Counter Clockwise Collective, an ensemble comprised of talented young artists and friends from the Dallas/Fort Worth area with a 12-track album released on all platforms featuring original compositions and arrangements. Ricardo also serves as the video editor and production assistant for jazzcomposerspresent.com, founded by Daniel Jamieson.