Frank Fernández Tamayo (born

Mayarí Mayarí is a municipality and town in the Holguín Province of Cuba. History The origins of the city date back to 1757 in Spanish Cuba, when the first farms were established here by immigrant colonists. On 19 January 1879 the city became the s ...

, Oriente, 16 March 1944) is a

Cuba Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbea ...

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 ...

, teacher and

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and Defi ...

. Fernández began playing the piano at age four and began lessons with his mother, Altagracia Tamayo, at age five. Tamayo was the director of the Obrón Academy in Mayarí. He was later taught by Esteban Forés in Mayarí. As an young man, Fernández moved to

Havana Havana (; Spanish: ''La Habana'' ) is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The heart of the La Habana Province, Havana is the country's main port and commercial center.

, where he played in nightclubs and

cabaret Cabaret is a form of theatrical entertainment featuring music, song, dance, recitation, or drama. The performance venue might be a pub, a casino, a hotel, a restaurant, or a nightclub with a stage for performances. The audience, often dining or d ...

s. He was admitted to the

Amadeo Roldán 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 ch ...

Conservatory, where he was taught by Margot Rojas. Critics have described Fernández as "a man touched by the divine," "one of the master interpreters of the most sublime moments of music in the world" or "someone without precedent, an unforgettable pianist,". Fernández has written more than 650 works in different formats, from

ballet Ballet () is a type of performance dance that originated during the Italian Renaissance in the fifteenth century and later developed into a concert dance form in France and Russia. It has since become a widespread and highly technical form of ...

choir A choir ( ; also known as a chorale or chorus) is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform. Choirs may perform music from the classical music repertoire, which ...

s and symphonies to arrangements of popular music, as well as television and radio themes. He has worked with Silvio Rogíguez, Vicente Feliú, and Pancho Amat. On August 18, 2015, at age 71, Fernandez made his U.S. performance debut at the

Ravinia Festival Ravinia Festival is an outdoor music venue in Highland Park, Illinois. It hosts a series of outdoor concerts and performances every summer from June to September. The first orchestra to perform at Ravinia Festival was the New York Philharmonic unde ...

, in Highland Park, Illinois.

Compositions

*''Las Casas'' *''Vértigo de Lluvia''

Discography

http://www.frankfernandezpianista.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=47&Itemid=119&lang=en * ''Frank Fernandez Y Sus 2 Pianos'' (1960) * ''Encuentro de música latinoamericana'' (1972) * ''Danzas cubanas- Ignacio Cervantes (Frank Fernández)'' (1975) * ''4to concierto de Beethoven'' (1978) * ''Música de la banda sonora original del serial "La gran rebelión"'' (1981) * ''Lecuona (Danzas para piano) - Gershwin (Rhapsody in Blue)'' (1985) * ''Beethoven-Schumann ciclo grandes maestros del piano'' (1987) * ''Desde la música Vol. 1'' (1988) * ''Bach-Chopin ciclo grandes maestros del piano'' (1989) * ''Tchaikovsky-Gershwin'' (1992) * ''Cubano y universal'' (1994) * ''Desde la música'' (1994) * ''Lecuona-Cervantes'' (1995) * ''Liszt-Mozart-Schumann'' (1997) * ''Todo Mozart'' (1999) * ''Todo Cervantes'' (2001) * ''Todo Saumell'' (2001) * ''Tierra Brava'' (2002) * ''Integral nocturnos de Chopin'' (2002) * ''Amor y dolor'' (2003) * ''Sonatas mas famosas de Beethoven Vol. 1'' (2003) * ''Gershwin-Mozart'' (2004) * ''Hasta la victoria siempre'' (2005) * ''Lecuona-Cervantes'' (2005) * ''Sonatas mas famosas de Beethoven Vol. 2'' (2005) * ''Homenaje a Gades. La rebelión'' (2005) * ''Dos trovadores'' (EGREM) (2007) * ''Con el alma en las manos (DVD)'' (2007) * ''Novia mía'' (2010) * ''Hágase la luz'' (EGREM) (2011)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fernandez, Frank Cuban composers Male composers Cuban pianists 1944 births Living people People from Mayarí 20th-century Cuban people 20th-century composers 20th-century pianists 21st-century pianists Cuban male musicians