Elías López Sobá (born in 1927) is a Puerto Rican classical music

pianist A pianist ( , ) is an individual musician who plays the piano. Since most forms of Western music can make use of the piano, pianists have a wide repertoire and a wide variety of styles to choose from, among them traditional classical music, ja ...

and educator. Together with musical director

Justino Diaz Justino is a name which is used as both a given name and a surname. Notable people with the name include: Given name * Justino de Azcárate (1903–1989), Spanish lawyer and politician * Justino Díaz (born 1940), Puerto Rican operatic bass-barit ...

, Elias López Sobá has been co-directing the annual

Casals Festival The Casals Festival is a classical music event celebrated every year in San Juan, Puerto Rico, in honor of classical musician Pablo Casals. Background The festival was founded in 1956 by Pablo Casals. It was promoted by Teodoro Moscoso and Davi ...

since 2010. Some sources considered him one of the most outstanding pianists and instrumentalists in 20th century Puerto Rico.

Early years

López-Sobá was born in

Ponce, Puerto Rico Ponce (, , , ) is both a city and a municipality on the southern coast of Puerto Rico. The city is the seat of the municipal government. Ponce, Puerto Rico's most populated city outside the San Juan metropolitan area, was founded on 12 August 1 ...

, in 1927.

Training

López-Sobá attended the

Longy School of Music Longy School of Music of Bard College is a private music school in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1915 as the Longy School of Music, it was one of the four independent degree-granting music schools in the Boston region along with the New En ...

in Massachusetts, graduating in 1951. He also studied at the

Bennington College Bennington College is a private liberal arts college in Bennington, Vermont. Founded in 1932 as a women's college, it became co-educational in 1969. It claims to be the first college to include visual and performing arts as an equal partner in ...

of the

University of Vermont The University of Vermont (UVM), officially the University of Vermont and State Agricultural College, is a public land-grant research university in Burlington, Vermont. It was founded in 1791 and is among the oldest universities in the United ...

, where he graduated with a

Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Th ...

. In 1953 he obtained a Fulbright scholarship which allowed him to continue studies in piano at the Academy of the music of Vienna, under

Alfred Brendel Alfred Brendel KBE (born 5 January 1931) is an Austrian classical pianist, poet, author, composer, and lecturer who is known particularly for his performances of Mozart, Schubert, Schoenberg, and Beethoven.Stephen Plaistow"Brendel, Alfred" ' ...

and

Zubin Mehta Zubin Mehta (born 29 April 1936) is an Indian conductor of Western classical music. He is music director emeritus of the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra (IPO) and conductor emeritus of the Los Angeles Philharmonic. Mehta's father was the fou ...

and where graduated magna cum laude, winning the first medal in the international music competition in 1955. He then moved to Italy to enhance his piano skills under

Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli (; 5 January 1920 – 12 June 1995) was an Italian classical pianist. He is considered one of the greatest pianists of the twentieth century. According to ''The New York Times'', he was perhaps the most reclusive, ...

. In 1961 he returned to Puerto Rico to teaching in the Faculty of Humanities of the

University of Puerto Rico The University of Puerto Rico ( es, Universidad de Puerto Rico, UPR) is the main public university system in the U.S. Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. It is a government-owned corporation with 11 campuses and approximately 58,000 students and 5,3 ...

. Between 1965 and 1967 López-Sobá completed his Master of Music degree at

Boston University Boston University (BU) is a Private university, private research university in Boston, Massachusetts. The university is nonsectarian, but has a historical affiliation with the United Methodist Church. It was founded in 1839 by Methodists with ...

Music career

In 1967 López Sobá was named director of the Department of Social and Cultural Studies of the University of Puerto Rico, a position which held until 1975. Between 1973 and 1980, he directed the corporation responsible for organizing the Festival Casals. Between 1985 and 1993, he chaired the

Institute of Puerto Rican Culture The Institute of Puerto Rican Culture ( es, Instituto de Cultura Puertorriqueña), or ICP, for short, is an institution of the Government of Puerto Rico responsible for the establishment of the cultural policies required in order to study, preser ...

and the music section of the

Ateneo Puertorriqueño The Ateneo Puertorriqueño (Puerto Rican Athenaeum), is a cultural institution in Puerto Rico. Founded on April 30, 1876, it has been called Puerto Rico's oldest cultural institution, however, it is actually its third oldest overall and second c ...

Performing career

López-Sobá has played as a soloist in numerous orchestras, including the Boston Symphony Orchestra and the Puerto Rico Symphony Orchestra and Venezuela Symphony Orchestra, and has regularly participated in concerts, recitals and musical conferences around the world, especially in

Central America Central America ( es, América Central or ) is a subregion of the Americas. Its boundaries are defined as bordering the United States to the north, Colombia to the south, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

and

Western Europe Western Europe is the western region of Europe. The region's countries and territories vary depending on context. The concept of "the West" appeared in Europe in juxtaposition to "the East" and originally applied to the ancient Mediterranean ...

. In 1986 he obtained the doctorate in philosophy and literature from the

University of Valladolid The University of Valladolid is a public university located in the city of Valladolid, Valladolid province, autonomous region of Castile and Leon, Spain. Established in the 13th century, it is one of the oldest universities in the world. The u ...

. In 1995 won the gold medal at the international competition of music interpretation in

Geneva , neighboring_municipalities= Carouge, Chêne-Bougeries, Cologny, Lancy, Grand-Saconnex, Pregny-Chambésy, Vernier, Veyrier , website = https://www.geneve.ch/ Geneva ( ; french: Genève ) frp, Genèva ; german: link=no, Genf ; it, Ginevr ...

.''Biography of Elías López Sobá (1927-).''
thebiography.us Accessed 1 June 2016.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lopez Soba, Elias Educators from Ponce Musicians from Ponce Living people 1927 births Puerto Rican academics University of Puerto Rico faculty Bennington College alumni University of Vermont alumni Longy School of Music of Bard College alumni

Early years

Training

Music career

Performing career

See also

References