Cuba on Music Theory Print

Alejandro García Caturla

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Alejandro García Caturla (7 March 1906 – 12 November 1940) was a Cuban composer of art music and creolized Cuban themes. Biography Caturla was born in the town of Remedios, Villa Clara, Cuba. At only sixteen years old, in 1922, he won a position as a member of the 2nd violins of the newly formed “Orquesta Sinfónica de La Habana”, where Amadeo Roldán was the concertmaster. He started to write music since he was a teenager, while studying both music and law. He felt attracted to Afro-Cuban rhythms since he was really young, and this became a common denominator in his compositions in a time when the division between art music and popular music did not influence Cuban composers. From 1925 to 1927 he continued his musical studies in Paris as a student of Nadia Boulanger. Together with composer Amadeo Roldán, Caturla became the leader of Afro-cubanismo, a nationalist musical trend, which mixed elements of white and black culture, incorporating Afro-Cuban songs, rhythms, and dances. Later on he used advanced techniques and French Impressionist styles combined with primitive tunes; as a result, some of his works show surprising juxtapositions of chords and moods. He composed Concierto de c

Alfredo Diez Nieto

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Alfredo Diez Nieto (25 October 1918 – 23 October 2021) was a Cuban composer, conductor, and professor. He taught composition at Instituto Musical Kohly, the Amadeo Roldán Conservatory, the National Art School, and the Instituto Superior de Arte in Havana. He founded and conducted the Orquesta Popular de Conciertos. Diez Nieto composed orchestral works including three symphonies and chamber music for various instruments, using and transforming elements from Cuban folk music. Life and career Alfredo Diez Nieto was born in Havana (La Habana), Cuba, on 25 October 1918. He enrolled at the Conservatorio Iranzo in Havana and studied composition, counterpoint, fugue, music history, music theory, orchestration, piano, and pedagogy with professors Rosario Iranzo, Jaime Prats, Juana Prendes, Amadeo Roldán, and Pedro Sanjuán. He completed his education at the Juilliard School of Music in New York, where he studied composition with Bernard Wagenaar, orchestral conducting with Fritz Mahler and piano with Eduard Steuermann. he taught composition, counterpoint and fugue, harmony, music history, orchestration, and piano at the Instituto Musical Kohly, the Amadeo Roldán Conservatory, the National Ar

Alfredo Rolando Ortiz

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Alfredo Rolando Ortiz (December 10, 1946) is an internationally acclaimed soloist of the Paraguayan harp, a composer, author, educator and recording artist. Biography Alfredo considers his “most important concerts” playing in the delivery room during the birth of his second daughter, on New Years Eve, 1980, and for the birth of a grandson from each of his two daughters. Dr. Alfredo Rolando Ortiz was invited to compose a piece to be premiered on July 22, 2008, during the Tenth World Harp Congress in Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Originally created for four harps or harp ensemble, the classical composition, titled “Cumbia Verde,” was performed by 232 harpists. Alfredo was born in Cuba. When he was eleven years old he immigrated with his family to Venezuela. Four years later he began studying the Venezuelan folk harp with his school friend Fernando Guerrero. A year later he became a pupil of Alberto Romero on the Paraguayan harp. Just two years after his first harp lesson, he began medical studies in Medellín, Colombia, began performing professionally and recorded his first album. Music supported his medical studies until graduation. Five years later he moved to the United States to con

Amadeo Roldán

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Amadeo Roldán y Gardes (Paris, 12 June 1900 – Havana, 7 March 1939) was a Cuban composer and violinist. Roldán was born in Paris to a Cuban mulatta and a Spanish father. It was his mother, the pianist Albertina Gardes, who initiated her children to music (his sister María Teresa was a mezzo-soprano and his brother Alberto a cellist). Roldán came to Cuba in 1919 after studying music theory and violin at the Madrid Conservatory, graduating in 1916. He became the concertmaster (leader of the first-violin section) of the new Orquesta Sinfónica de la Habana in 1922. In the mid-1920s he was appointed concertmaster of the Orquesta Filarmónica of Havana (he would assume the position of conductor in 1932) and founded the Havana String Quartet. During this period, Roldán, one of the leaders of the Afrocubanismo movement, wrote the first symphonic pieces to incorporate Afro-Cuban percussion instruments. Roldán’s best-known composition is the 1928 ballet La Rebambaramba, described by a critic of the era as “a multicolored musicorama … depicting an Afro-Cuban fiesta in a gorgeous display of Caribbean melorhythms, with the participation of a multifarious fauna of native percussion effects, inc

Catalina Berroa

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Catalina Berroa Ojea (28 February 1849 – 23 November 1911) was a Cuban pianist, music teacher and composer. Cuba’s first female conductor. She was the first female conductor in Cuba and mastered seven instruments. Life and career Catalina Berroa was born in Trinidad, Las Villas, and studied with local teachers to master several instruments. She operated a music academy in Trinidad where she taught students including her nephew, pianist and composer Lico Jimenez. She also worked as organist in the Church of St. Francis of Assisi, and as organist and choir conductor of the Holy Trinity Church. Berroa played cello in a trio with Manuel Jimenez on violin and Ana Luisa Vivanco on piano. She also performed as violinist of the Brunet Theater orchestra. Works Berroa composed songs, guarachas, hymns and liturgical and sacred music. Selected works include: *Song The Trinity, 1867 *Song, Song of Belisa and Josefa, 1902 *Condemned, The Talisman, Consciousness, The appeal, Rosa Gentile, all voice and guitar *Guaracha Cerro De La Habana, cat’s dinner *Conchita March *May Flowers Church Music, for horn and piano *The Virgin of Cuba, for chorus *Osalutaris, for voice and organ *Save for two voices

Cecilia Arizti

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Cecilia Arizti Sobrino (28 October 1856 – 30 June 1930 ) was a Cuban composer, pianist and music educator. Biography Cecilia Arizti was born in La Loma del Angel, Havana, the daughter of pianist Fernando Arizti and his wife Teresa Sobrino. Arizti studied music with her father and composition with Francisco Fuentes and Espadero Ruiz, and showed an early talent for composition. After completing her studies, Arizti performed as a concert pianist in Cuba and the United States. She became a professor at the Conservatory Peyrellade, and published a manual of piano technique. Works Arizti’s works are for piano and composed in Romantic style. Selected works include: *Impromptu in F minor *Vals lent *Romanza *Nocturn *Caprici *Reverie, Op. 16 *Chamber Trio for piano, violin and cello References Further reading * * * * * * * * * *

César Pérez Sentenat

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César Pérez Sentenat (1896-1973) was a Cuban pianist and composer. He has been recognized as an important professor of classical piano in Cuba. Professional background César Pérez Sentenat began to study piano in 1913 with Hubert de Blanck, Rafaela Serrano and Antonio Saavedra, and music theory with José Molina. In 1922 he travelled to Paris, where he studied with Joaquín Nin Castellanos. He also studied musical pedagogy and musicology at the Schola Cantorum. Upon his return to Havana he studied contemporary harmony with Pedro Sanjuán and Amadeo Roldán, between 1924 and 1926. At a later time he travelled to the US, where he continued studying Children Musical Pedagogy with John M. Williams from 1939 to 1940. In 1953 he travelled to Madrid to take courses on Musical Folklore at the Madrid Conservatory, with professor Manuel García. Professor In 1922, Pérez Sentenat was appointed as professor of piano and harmony at the National Conservatory, and in 1940 he served as associate professor at the Sherwood Music School in Chicago. Sentenat served as professor at the Conservatorio Municipal de Música, and in 1931 he was appointed as director of that educational institution. Also in 1931,

Concha Valdés Miranda

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Concha Valdés Miranda (July 16, 1928 – August 19, 2017) was a Cuban songwriter and performer of Cuban music. Miranda was born in Havana, Cuba. Her greatest success may have been “El que más te ha querido”. It was nominated for the Grammy and the first place in the United States. In addition, she is the author of numerous songs that were popular in the voices of performers such as Toña la Negra, Celia Cruz, Lucía Méndez, Olga Guillot, Tito Rodríguez, Felipe Pirela, Joel Gabino, Los Panchos, Gilberto Santa Rosa, Santos Colón, Floria Márquez, Ismael Miranda, Tito Nieves, Tito Puente, Sergio Vargas, Johnny Ventura, Cheo Feliciano and Dyango, among others. Many of her compositions have been used as themes in Spanish and Mexican movies. She is among the first artists to become part of the composers of Latin Songwriters Hall of Fame. She died in Miami, aged 89. Songs * El que más te ha querido * El viaje * La mitad * Tápame contigo * Orgasmo Discography * Concha Valdes Miranda interpreta sus canciones, (LD) KUBANEY MT 323 * Concha Valdes Miranda: Erotismo y osadía, (LD) RODVEN 2012. Movies * Tápame contigo (1970) Tápame contigo * Sauna (1990) Sauna * Jamón Jamón (1992) Jamón, Jamón Reference

Dafnis Prieto

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Dafnis Prieto (born July 31, 1974) is a Cuban-American drummer, composer, bandleader, and educator. Career In his home town of Santa Clara, Cuba, Prieto studied percussion and guitar. During his teens, he moved to Havana to study at the National School of Music. He concentrated on classical music and Afro-Cuban music before paying more attention to jazz. In 1999, when he was twenty-five, Prieto moved to New York City, where he worked with Eddie Palmieri, Carlos Barbosa-Lima, Arturo O’Farrill, Dave Samuels, and Michel Camilo, among many others. Prieto has conducted master classes, clinics, and workshops. From 2005 to 2015, he was a member of the music faculty at New York University. Since 2015, he has taught at the Frost School of Music at the University of Miami in Miami, Florida. Awards and honors * 2007 Grammy nomination, Best Latin Jazz Album, Dafnis Prieto Absolute Quintet (Zoho Music) * 2007 Latin Grammy nomination, Best New Artist * 2011 MacArthur Fellow * 2018 Latin Grammy nomination, Best Latin Jazz Album, Back to the Sunset * 2018 Grammy Award, Best Latin Jazz Album, Back to the Sunset * 2021 Grammy nomination, Best Latin Jazz Album, Transparency Discography As leader * Ab

Danilo Avilés

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Danilo Avilés Suárez (born 1948) is a Cuban composer and clarinetist. Career Suárez worked as a clarinetist in the Orquesta de Teatro y Danza in Havana. He participated as a composer in numerous concerts organized by the Brigada Hermanos Saiz and other cultural institutions in his country. He also received awards from local Symphonic and Chamber Music competitions and participated as a guest in the Warsaw Autumn Festival as well as the Spring Festival in Berlin, Germany. In 1980,he moved to Madrid, Spain where he taught musical composition and chamber music. Later he settled in the US and continued teaching and composing. Music work Suárez has written numerous pieces for soprano and piano, clarinet, string quartet, and brass quintet, as well as music for children, choral works, and incidental music. His works have been performed by renowned artists as Cuban pianist Marianela Santurio and conducted by Cuban composer Flores Chaviano in important events such as I Foro de Música Contemporánea in Mexico. The compositions of Suárez have also been premiered in many other concerts in Russia, Poland, Germany, Hungary, Spain and the United States. Compositions A list of relevant works from D

Eduardo Sánchez de Fuentes

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Eduardo Sánchez de Fuentes (3 April 1874, in Havana – 7 September 1944) was a Cuban composer, and an author of books on the history of Cuban folk music. The outstanding habanera Tú, written when he was sixteen, was his best-known composition. As an adult, he composed the scores for the opera Yumurí, the ballet Dioné, the oratorio Navidad and the cantata Anacaona. His writings are still charming and informative today, though their standing has suffered from an accurate criticism by later musicologists. They realized that he had systematically underestimated the contribution of the Africans in Cuba. He insisted, instead, on the supposed contribution of Cuba’s original aboriginal population, which was subsequently disproved. :“It is a shame that a succession of errors should have spoilt the greatest work of a man who had carried his musicianship for almost half a century with rare dignity. Because in the end…Sanchez de Fuentes will remain, above all, a composer of habaneras and songs. In a hundred years his Cuban melodies will occupy a place of honor in our traditions…” Bibliography *El folklore en la música cubana *Cuba y sus músicos *Influencia de los ritmos africanos en nuestro

Ernestina Lecuona

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Ernestina Lecuona y Casado (16 January 1882 – 3 September 1951) was a Cuban pianist, music educator and composer. Life Ernestina Lecuona y Casado was born in Matanzas into a musical family. Her brother was pianist and composer Ernesto Lecuona. Leo Brouwer, a classical guitarist, is her grandson, and gymnast-political scientist Rafael A. Lecuona, an anti-communist, was her nephew. She studied music at the Centro Asturiano de La Habana and with French teacher Lucía Calderón. At the age of 15, Lecuona completed her first work Habanera Luisa, which was published widely in Cuba and Spain by Anselmo López in 1897. She gave early music lessons to her younger brother Ernesto. In 1936 she was invited to New York City by the Pan American Union, where she accompanied the Mexican tenor Tito Guizar. She made contact with singer Jessica Dragonette, who added some of Lecuona’s works to her repertoire. In 1937 she founded a women’s orchestra in Cuba, which debuted at the Teatro Alkazar, and in 1938 performed in concerts at the National Theatre. In 1939 she toured Mexico, Chile and Argentina, and traveled in South America again from 1940 to 1942. She traveled with her brother on tour, and sometimes

Gisela Hernández

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Gisela Hernández Gonzalo (1912−1971) was a Cuban composer. Aware of political necessity, she established ties with the Castro government in return for recognition of her activities as a music teacher and composer. She was also a member of the nationalistic Grupo Minorista that led a movement to incorporate Afro-Cuban sounds into larger forms of music. Hernández taught music at the Hubert de Blanck Conservatory, and with Olga De Blanck Martín, director of the conservatory, she developed a music education system that made significant changes in Mexican music education. With de Blanck, she also co-founded Ediciones de Blanck publishing and became instrumental in publishing critical editions of Ignacio Cervantes’ music. Works Hernández often used Afro-Cuban elements in her compositions. Selected works include: *Triptico, song cycle, 1967 (Text: Guillén, poet) “Palma sola” “¡Ay, señora mi vencia!” “Sangres derramadas” *Deprisa tierra, deprisa (in Nueve canciones) (Text: Juan Ramón Jiménez) *Diálogo (in Nueve canciones) (Text: Dulce María Loynaz) *Huerto de marzo (in Nueve canciones) (Text: Federico García Lorca) *Mi corazón lo tragó el mar (in Nueve canciones) (Text: Mirta Aguirre Carre

Harold Gramatges

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Harold Gramatges (26 September 1918 – 16 December 2008) was a Cuban composer, pianist, and teacher. Gramatges was born in Santiago, Cuba. In 1941, he entered the conservatory in Santiago de Cuba to study under professor Dulce María Serret, and went on to study composition at the Municipal Conservatoire of Havana with Amadeo Roldán and José Ardévol (Rodriguez 2001), and with professor Flora Mora. In 1942, he travelled to United States to complete his studies at Berkshire Music Center under Aaron Copland (composition) and Serge Koussevitzky (conducting) (Rodriguez 2001). He later founded and directed Cuba’s Municipal Conservatory Orchestra, where he worked as professor of Harmony, Composition, Aesthetics and Music History. In 1958, he received the Reichold of Caribbean and Central America Prize, conferred by the Detroit Orchestra for his Sinfonía en mi. In 1959, he created the Musical Department at Casa de las Américas. He has spent his life working on transforming and developing musical education in Cuba. In 1961 and 1964, he was the Cuban Ambassador to France. His work tends to bridge the forms of contemporary classical and modern Cuban or Latin American music. His catalog includes

Ignacio Cervantes

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Ignacio Cervantes Kawanagh (Havana, 31 July 1847 – Havana, 29 April 1905) was a Cuban pianist and composer. He was influential in the creolization of Cuban music. Biography A child prodigy, he was taught by pianist Juan Miguel Joval, later by composer and tutor Nicolás Ruiz Espadero in 1859, and by the visiting American composer Louis Moreau Gottschalk. Gottschalk encouraged Cervantes to study at the Conservatoire de Paris (1866–1870) under Antoine François Marmontel and Charles-Valentin Alkan, where he was awarded first prizes in composition (1866) and harmony (1867). He also performed with Christina Nilsson and Adelina Patti. In 1875, Cervantes and José White left Cuba when warned by the Governor-General: he had found out that they had been giving concerts all over the country to raise money for the rebel cause in the Ten Years’ War. In the United States and Mexico Cervantes continued to raise money by giving concerts until the Pact of Zanjón brought a lull in conflict. He returned in 1878 and left again in 1895 when the Cuban War of Independence started. Cervantes wrote one opera (Maledetto, 1895), various chamber pieces (Scherzo cappricioso, 1885), zarzuelas, and the famous for

Ileana Perez Velazquez

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Ileana Perez Velazquez is a Cuban-American composer who has been professor of composition at Williams College since 2000. She was born in Cienfuegos, Cuba, and studied undergraduate piano and composition at the Higher Institute of Arts (ISA), Havana, Cuba before moving to the United States for graduate work in composition at Dartmouth College and Indiana University School of Music in Bloomington, where she earned her Doctor of Musical Arts degree. Her work draws from a range of influences, which a New York Times review described as an “otherworldly quality mirrored in the accompaniment and sounding like a musical expression of the Latin American literary form magical realism.” She has been commissioned to compose works, including the 2015 Commission from the Fromm Music Foundation at Harvard University and by performers and ensembles, including Continuum (New York City), Momenta String quartet (New York City), Miranda Cuckson and Nunc, Cassatt Quartet (New York City), Ensemble Dal Niente from Chicago, Talujon Percussion Ensemble, by the Berkshire Symphony Orchestra, and by Mari Kimura, among others. Festival performances of her work includes venues such as the Sonidos de las Americ

Israel Kantor

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Israel Kantor, also known as Israel Sardinas, Wilfredo Israel Sardinas, and Wilfredo Israel Sardiñas Domínguez, (16 October 1949 – 1 July 2006) was a Cuban-born musician and composer who later lived and worked in the United States. Born 1949 in a town called Alturas de Canasi with the name Wilfredo Israel Sardinas, he grew up in Havana, Cuba. He gained popularity in the 1970s as a sonero, a singer of the Son cubano style of music. Early influences included music by Beny More. He joined with Los Van Van in 1980 and toured globally with them, before leaving the group and moving to the United States in 1983. Settling in Miami, Florida, he garnered support from Cuban exiles who had moved to Miami, Florida. While in New York City in 1984 he changed his name to Kantor as a reference to cantor, Spanish for singer, at the recommendation of colleague Johnny Pacheco. He recorded albums in the 1980s alongside musicians including: Sal Cuevas, Barry Rogers, Mario Rivera, and Sonny Bravo. His song “Ya Estoy Aquí” reached the number two top spot amongst popular music on Miami radio in 2002. Kantor joined the group Tropicana All-Stars in 2003, a twenty-piece orchestra band which performed tribute

José Julián Jiménez

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José Julián Jiménez (January 9, 1823–March 3, 1898), was a Cuban violinist and composer. Early life José Julián Jiménez was born in Trinidad, Cuba. Jiménez was part of a vibrant group of free black and mulato musicians who marked Cuba’s musical life in the nineteenth century. Career As an adolescent, he received his earliest training on the violin from his father, orchestra conductor, Nicasio Jimenez (Sr.), beginning at the age of fourteen. In 1849, he moved to Havana, where he studied with Italian violinist and composer Luigi Arditi. In the same year Jiménez founded a dance band in Havana and composed many danzas and guarachas for the ensemble. Later on, he traveled to Leipzig, Germany, where he studied piano, violin, and harmony. While residing there, he entered the Leipzig Conservatorium, where he studied violin with Ferdinand David, piano with Ignaz Moscheles, and harmony with Alexander Ritter. In Leipzig he performed as a member of the Gewandhaus Orchestra and is credited with being the first Black musician in the Gewandhaus Orchestra. Upon his graduation from the conservatory, Jiménez returned to Cuba, where his two sons were born. In 1869, he returned to Leipzig with his son

José Loyola

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José Eulalio Loyola Fernández (born 1941) is a Cuban composer, professor and flutist. Academic background José Loyola was born in 1941 in Cienfuegos, Cuba. He began to study flute with his father, Efrain Loyola, and continued at a later time, in 1963, at the National Art Schools with professors Juan Pablo Ondina and Emigdio Mayo. In 1967, Loyola concluded his médium level music studies and received instruction from renowned North American professor Federico Smith. In 1967, Loyola received a scholarship to study musical composition at the Warsaw Superior School of Music, with professors Grażyna Bacewicz, Andrzej Dobrowolski and Witold Rudzinski. In 1973, he concluded his studies. From 1981 to 1985, he continued at the Frédéric Chopin Academy at Warsaw, where he received a Doctorate in Music. a musical ensemble which structure is based in the classical format of the “Charanga francesa”, which emerged during the first years of the 20th century derived from the “Orquesta típica”, or wind ensemble. Awards and recognitions * Annual Award for the totality of his work (1992) * “Juan Marinello” Order (1996) * “Alejo Carpentier” Medal,(2002) * National Prize for Artistic Education (2023) See

José Marín Varona

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José Marín Varona (Camagüey, March 10, 1859Havana, September 17, 1912) was a Cuban composer, conductor, pianist and professor. Biographical note José Marín Varona was born on March 10, 1859, in the city of Camagüey, where he began his musical studies with professor Mariano Agüero. At a later time, Varona established his residence in Havana. In 1896, the composer included in his zarzuela “El Brujo” the first Cuban guajira which has been historically documented. Shortly after the premiere of “El Brujo”, Marín Varona travelled to the United States because of threats received from the Spanish government because of his support of the Cuban independence movement. During his exile, he continued his musical activity and offered presentations with the purpose of collaborating with the national independence cause. In Key West, he contributed to the local media with news articles and musical critique. Upon returning to Cuba, Marín Varona was married to the Spanish singer Amalia Rodríguez and travelled through the Americas with zarzuela and operetta companies. In 1913, Cuban composer José Mauri offered a lecture about his work at the National Academy of Arts and Literature; and in 1916, the In

Juan Nepomucino Goetz

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Juan Nepomucino Goetz () was an Austrian Catholic priest whose arrival in Cuba led to two extraordinary controversies. When Toussaint-Louverture drove out the British, he rang the church bells and celebrated. However, in the following period, Goetz fled to Santiago de Cuba, where his knowledge of languages gave him a place as the ‘foreigners’ priest. Goetz in Havana In Havana, choirmaster Lazo de la Vega was ailing and died. After his death, four men sought the post: 28-year-old first violinist José Francisco Rensoli, singer Luis Lazo, maestro Cayetano Solis and the Catalan Cayetano Pagueras, a religious composer and first contralto. The matter was to be decided by competitive examination. Pagueras regarded himself as a maestro in four arts: plainsong, organ playing, counterpoint and composition. All were set for the examination when a letter, written on 29 July 1803, arrived at the cathedral. It was from Goetz, offering his service. After looking, listening and questioning, he wrote a first report to the town council full of acute assessments of key members of the choir: :“Cayetano Pagueras: Second contralto, terrible voice, no expressiveness. Almost blind… A good composer, but

Keyla Orozco

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Keyla María Orozco Alemán (born 22 September 1969) is a Cuban composer based in the Netherlands and the United States. A 2000 Guggenheim Fellow, her music has drawn inspiration from Cuban music. Biography Keyla María Orozco Alemán was born on 22 September 1969 in Santiago de Cuba. She studied at the Conservatorio Esteban Salas de Santiago de Cuba and National Art Schools, before studying composition at Instituto Superior de Arte with Harold Gramatges. She later studied at the Royal Conservatory of The Hague and the Sweelinck Conservatorium, the former under Theo Loevendie, who encouraged incorporation of Cuban elements towards her work. In July 1999, her piece Perpetuum was performed at the Uncommon Voices: A New Presence in Music event at Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Sculpture Garden. In 2007, her piece Para Ti Nengon, inspired by the Cuban genre , appeared at a Merkin Hall concert on Cuban music. In May 2018, she appeared at the Kennedy Center. In November 2021, her piece Viajeros was the finale at Zofo’s Zofomama show in Saint Paul, Minnesota; Sheila Regan said that Orozco “offered a richly theatrical piece of music” with a transition from Russian to Cuban music, noting that the bac

Leo Brouwer

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Juan Leovigildo Brouwer Mezquida (born March 1, 1939) is a Cuban composer, conductor, and classical guitarist. He is a Member of Honour of the International Music Council. Early years Brouwer was born in Havana, Cuba. When he was 13, he began classical guitar with the encouragement of his father, who was an amateur guitarist. His teacher was Isaac Nicola, who was a student of Emilio Pujol, who was himself a student of Francisco Tárrega. At age 17 he performed publicly for the first time and began composing. Brouwer went to the United States to study music at the Hartt College of Music of the University of Hartford, and later at the Juilliard School, Composing and performing In his early compositions, Brouwer remained close to the rhythms of Cuban music, while later he was drawn to aleatoric music. During the 1960s and 70s, he became interested in the music of modernist composers such as Luigi Nono and Iannis Xenakis, using indeterminacy in works such as Sonograma I. Other works from this period include the guitar pieces Canticum (1968), La espiral eterna (1971), Parábola (1973) and Tarantos (1974). More recently, Brouwer’s works have leaned towards tonality and modality. The solo g

Lico Jiménez

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José Manuel Jiménez Berroa (7 December 1851 – 15 January 1917), known as Lico Jiménez, was a Cuban pianist and composer. Early years José Manuel “Lico” Jiménez Berroa was born in Trinidad, Cuba, Las Villas province into a musical family. He was the son of Maria Andrea Berroa and violinist Jose Julian Jiménez and was baptized in 1852 at the Parochial Church of the Santísima Trinidad. His grandfather was Francisco Nicasio Jiménez, orchestra and band leader. Jiménez studied music as a child with his father and grandparents and his aunt, Cuban musician and composer Catalina Berroa, and at the age of 15 was hired as an accompanist for a concert at Palacio Brunet by visiting German violinist Karl Werner. At the recommendation of Werner, Lico’s father, Jose Julian Jiménez, who was the first Black musician in the Gewandhaus Orchestra in Leipzig, concertized to raise the funds to send his two sons, Lico and Nicasio Jiménez to Europe in 1867, where Lico studied piano with the Carl Armbrust in Hamburg, Carl Reinecke and Ignaz Moscheles at the Leipzig Conservatory and in Paris with Antoine Marmontel. Jiménez fathered a son, Angel Zambrana, in Trinidad, Cuba, whose many descendants currently th

Louis Franz Aguirre

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Louis Franz Aguirre (born in Camagüey, Cuba, 1968) is a Cuban composer and conductor that has achieved international recognition. Academic background Louis Aguirre studied musical composition with Harold Gramatges, Roberto Valera and Tulio Peramo, as well as violin and conducting at the Havana Instituto Superior de Arte. He received a BA in musical composition in 1991. He also underwent postgraduate composition studies at the Conservatorium van Amsterdam in The Netherlands from 2002 to 2004, studying the composition postgraduate program: “Contemporary music through non-Western Techniques” with professor R. Reina, Work as composer Louis Aguirre works as a full-time composer since he moved to Europe in 2002, where he has received numerous commissions. Aguirre has written works for numerous prestigious performers and ensembles such as Ere Lievonen, Enric Monfort, Adam Ørvad, Carlos Gálvez, Juanjo Guillem, Mikkel Andersen, Barbara Lueneburg, Karolina Leedo, Axyz Ensemble, Arbós Trío, Snow Mask Ensemble, Kimbala Percussion Group, DuoMetrie, Verso Duo, Havana Symphony Orchestra, Santiago Symphony Orchestra, Camagüey Symphony Orchestra, the Arditti Quartet, TANA String Quartet, Residencia

Magaly Ruiz

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Doris Magaly Ruiz Lastres (born 1941) is a Cuban musician and composer. Her compositions have been performed at a number of international music festivals. Life Magaly Ruiz was born in Santa Clara, Cuba, in 1941. In 1981, she graduated with a degree in Composition from the Instituto Superior de Arte de La Habana, where she studied with Harold Gramatges, César Pérez Sentenat, José Ardévol, Félix Guerrero, Alfredo Diez Nieto, Dolores Torres and Roberto Valera. Works Ruiz’ curriculum is published in prestigious dictionaries such as The Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians and Diccionario Iberoamericano de la Música. Several of her compositions are included as part of the curriculum of the leading music education institutions in Cuba, among them, the Conservatorio Amadeo Roldán, the Instituto Superior de Arte de La Habana, the Instituto Superior Pedagógico Enrique José Varona and Conservatorio Alejandro Garcia Caturla. Her compositions have been performed at many festivals such as the International Musical Festival, Festival de La Habana, Festival Boleros de Oro, International Festival of Contemporary Music, the International Festival Donne in Musica in Fiuggi, Italy and the Festival

María de las Mercedes Adam de Aróstegui

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María Emma de las Mercedes Adam de Aróstegui (24 September 1873 – 20 October 1957) was a Cuban pianist and composer who lived and worked in Spain. She was born in Camagüey, Cuba, and moved to Spain with her family when she was nine years old. She studied with Joaquin Zuazagoitia in Santiago de Compostela and continued her studies in the Conservatorio Real in Madrid. She studied with Louis Diemer and Jules Massenet in Paris and with Vincent d’Indy. After completing her education, she worked as a composer and pianist, giving concerts with Pablo Casals. Her music was performed in Paris and in Cuba. She died in Madrid. Works Selected works include: *Serenata Española *La Peregrinacion de Childe Harold *Poemo sinfonico *En el Campo de Waterloo *La vida de sueño, opera *La infancia *Danzas Cubanas *Seranata andaluza *Ballade guerriere ecossaise (text: Sir Walter Scott) *A une femme for voice and cello She also published an essay La etica y la estitica en la obra musical. References

Odaline de la Martinez

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Odaline de la Martinez (born 31 October 1949) is a Cuban and American composer and conductor, currently residing in the UK. She is the artistic director of Lontano, a London-based contemporary music ensemble which she co-founded in 1976 with New Zealander flautist Ingrid Culliford, and was the first woman to conduct at the BBC Promenade Concerts (the Proms) in 1984. As well as frequent appearances as a guest conductor with leading orchestras throughout Great Britain, including all the BBC orchestras, she has conducted several leading ensembles around the world, including the Ensemble 2e2m in Paris; the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra; the Australian Youth Orchestra; the OFUNAM and the Camerata of the Americas in Mexico; and the Vancouver Chamber Orchestra. She is also known as a broadcaster for BBC Radio and Television and has recorded extensively for several labels. Biography Odaline de la Martinez was born in 1949 in Matanzas and grew up in Jovellanos, a cane-sugar manufacturing town in the same province. After the Bay of Pigs Invasion in 1961 her parents decided to send her and her sister to live with their aunt and uncle in the United States. She enrolled at Tulane University, N

Olga de Blanck

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Olga de Blanck y Martín (11 March 1916 – 28 July 1998) was a Cuban pianist, guitarist and composer. Education Born in Havana to composer Hubert de Blanck and his second wife Pilar Martín, in 1924 de Blanck entered the National Conservatory of Music, which her father had founded in 1885. There, she studied piano, solfeggio and music theory. After graduating, she continued harmony studies in Havana with noted Cuban composer, violinist and professor of music Amadeo Roldán (1900–1939), and with professor of music and conductor Pedro Sanjuán (1887–1976). She lived in New York City from 1935–1938 and studied fugue and counterpoint there with Brazilian composer Walter Burle Marx (1902–1990). She lived in Mexico from 1943–1944, studying with composer, violinist and music theorist Julián Carrillo (1875–1965) and composer Carlos Jiménez Mabarak (1916–1994). Career On her return to Cuba, she joined the staff of the National Conservatory of Music, where she collaborated on its technical direction, and worked with composer and professor of music Gisela Hernández (1912–1971) to develop a pedagogy for teaching elemental music. She also was instrumental in founding Ediciones de Blanck, a publishin

Orlando Jacinto Garcia

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Orlando Jacinto Garcia (born 1954; surname sometimes spelled García) is a Cuban-American composer of contemporary classical music. Life and career Garcia received a DMA degree in composition from the University of Miami in 1985. He also studied composition with Morton Feldman. He is a guest composer and lecturer at national and international festivals. His music has been performed numerous artists such as Joan La Barbara, Bertram Turetzky, Luis Gómez-Imbert, Jan Williams, Joseph Celli, Odaline de la Martinez the Gregg Smith Singers, and many orchestras in the Americas and Europe. Garcia is the founder and director of several international festivals that include the New Music Miami Festival and the Music of the Americas Festival. He is the founder and artistic director of the NODUS Ensemble and the Florida International University (FIU) New Music Ensemble. Awards and recognitions Garcia is the recipient of numerous honors and awards from organizations and cultural institutions, including the Nuevas Resonancias, ACF Sonic Circuits, Bloch International Competition, and fellowships, residencies, and other awards from the Rockefeller, Fulbright, Dutka, and Cintas Foundation (1994/95 and

Rudy Pérez

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Rudy Amado Pérez (born May 14, 1958) was a Cuban-born American musician, songwriter, composer, producer, arranger, sound engineer, musical director and singer, composed over 1,000 songs (over 300 of which have been number one or have reached the top 10 charts), and written and produced music for popular international artists such as Westlife, Natalie Cole, José Feliciano, Julio Iglesias, Luis Miguel, Raúl di Blasio, Jaci Velasquez, Cristian Castro, Christina Aguilera, Michael Bolton, Luis Fonsi, Marc Anthony, Jennifer Lopez, Il Divo, and Beyoncé. to Baptist parents. His grandfather was a Baptist minister. Pérez’s father, Rudy Amado, was a painter, who served as lieutenant in the army of Cuban former president Fulgencio Batista, and was imprisoned following the Cuban Revolution of 1959, due to his involvement in prior conflict with Castro’s communist forces. The remainder of his family consisted of his mother, Elsa Pérez, When Pérez was nine years old, his family emigrated to the United States, He began singing at age two. It is reported that he was able to sing in perfect tune After hearing the music of Frédéric Chopin’s pianist, He stayed in the group for five years and, at age tw

Sergio Barroso

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Sergio Fernández Barroso (also known as Sergio Barroso) (b. Havana, Cuba, 1946) is a Cuban composer, performer and professor. Academic Background Sergio Barroso studied piano, theory and organ with Alfredo Levi, César Pérez Sentenat, Edgardo Martín, and Alfredo Diez Nieto at the Havana National “Amadeo Roldán” Conservatory, where he received an Honours Diploma in 1966. At a later time he did post-graduate studies in composition and theory with Václav Dobiáš and Karel Jánacek at the Superior Academy of Music (AMJ) in Prague, and obtained a Post-Graduate Certificate at this institution in 1968. He took private classes with Alois Hába in the same city. Barroso also studied Orchestral Conducting with Manuel Duchesne Cuzán and Gonzalo Romeu at the Superior Institute of Arts (ISA), in Havana and computer music with John Chowning and Jean-Claude Risset at CCRMA, Stanford University (USA). Performer As a keyboardist, Barroso has mainly performed his own music and has also specialized in baroque music. He has performed at the National Arts Centre (Ottawa), IRCAM and UNESCO (Paris), South Bank Centre (London, UK), Pollack Hall, Chapelle historique du Bon-Pasteur (Montréal) and Glenn Gould St

Sergio de Karlo

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Sergio de Karlo (December 15, 1911 – January 10, 2010) was a Cuban composer, singer and actor, considered the maestro of the Cuban Bolero. He composed more than 300 rumbas and boleros. De Karlo was named “Artist of the Year” in 1942 by Billboard Magazine. Biography Born in pre-revolutionary Havana, Cecilio Lopez (later changed to Sergio De Karlo) grew up on a large estate outside of central Havana. With his upbringing left largely to the care of his nanny, Sergio’s earliest musical experiences were rooted in the techniques of Afro-Cuban rhythms. These rhythms combined with the traditional music of Spain, constituted the advent of the Cuban Bolero. Immigration to the United States At the age of 14, Sergio became a professional entertainer with a role as a chorus boy in a musical created by Cuban composer Ernesto Lecuona. Shortly thereafter, Sergio ventured out on his own, forming “Arittola,” one of the first jazz bands in Cuba. Forced to flee from his homeland because of a complicated romance, Sergio went to New York City. Sergio found a job as a dancer at a Chinese restaurant. During this time, Sergio toured Hawaii with the King Sisters, Edgar Bergen and Martha Raye on behalf of th

Tania León

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Tania León (born May 14, 1943) is a Cuban-born American composer of both large-scale and chamber works. She is also renowned as a conductor, educator, and advisor to arts organizations. Early years and education She was born Tania Justina León in Havana, Cuba, of mixed French, Spanish, Chinese, African, and Cuban heritage. It was her grandmother who recognized that her granddaughter liked music because of the way she reacted to music on the radio. She began studying the piano at the age of four and she attended Carlos Alfredo Peyrellade Conservatory, where she earned a B.A. in 1963, and the Alejandro García Caturla Conservatory, where she studied piano with Zenaida Manfugás. Leon was one of an estimated 300,000 Cubans who left Cuba as a refugee on the so-called “Freedom Flights”. In the spring of 1967 she left Cuba and settled in New York City, continuing her studies at New York University under the tutelage of Ursula Mamlok (B.S., 1971; M.S., 1975). She also began studying conducting under Leonard Bernstein and Seiji Ozawa. Career In 1969, León became a founding member and the first musical director of Arthur Mitchell’s Dance Theater of Harlem, establishing its music department, m

Wilma Alba Cal

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Wilma Alba Cal (May 16, 1988) is a Cuban composer of contemporary classical music. Her work has been recognized in several competitions in Cuba organized by National Union of Writers and Artists of Cuba (UNEAC), Instituto Superior de Arte, Asociación Hermanos Saíz and Instituto Cubano de la Música. Her catalog includes chamber, choir, electroacoustic and orchestral music, in addition to soundtracks for theatre and audiovisual works. Life Wilma Alba Cal was born on May 16, 1988, in Guanabacoa, Havana, Cuba. Since childhood she had the musical influence of her family and her diverse environment which made her start studies in music at the age of 10. In 2007 she graduated as Choir Conductor at Guillermo Tomás Conservatory. The following year she begins to study composition at the Instituto Superior de Arte guided by the professor Juan Piñera. She graduated in Musical Composition in 2012; she was selected one of the best graduates of the institution. After that, taking part of an exchange in spring 2012, she continues studies at the Academy of Music and Drama of the University of Goteborg, Sweden. She has a Diploma in Creación Sonora con Nuevas Tecnologías of the Centro Mexicano para l