Dulce María Serret Danger (1898 – 30 May 1989) was a Cuban pianist and music teacher. She studied in Spain and France, and toured in Europe for several years before returning to Cuba, where she taught for most of the rest of her life.

Early years

Dulce María Serret was born in

Santiago de Cuba Santiago de Cuba is the second-largest city in Cuba and the capital city of Santiago de Cuba Province. It lies in the southeastern area of the island, some southeast of the Cuban capital of Havana. The municipality extends over , and contains ...

on 12 September 1898. She showed musical aptitude from an early age, and began music lessons when she was 9 years old. In her home town she was taught by Gustavo Rogel and Ramón Figueroa. She was given a recommendation by the professor José Marín Varona of

Camagüey Camagüey () is a city and municipality in central Cuba and is the nation's third-largest city with more than 321,000 inhabitants. It is the capital of the Camagüey Province. It was founded as Santa María del Puerto del Príncipe in 1514, by S ...

to the National Conservatory of Music of Havana, an institution that had been founded by the Dutch composer and pianist

Hubert de Blanck Hubertus Christiaan (Hubert) de Blanck (June 14, 1856November 28, 1932Orovio HelioCuban Music from A to Z Duke University Press, 2003, ; p. 28) was a Dutch-born professor, pianist, and composer who spent the better part of his life in Cuba. Earl ...

. In 1913 the public recitals of

Ernesto Lecuona Ernesto Lecuona y Casado (; August 7, 1896 – November 29, 1963) was a Cuban composer and pianist, many of whose works have become standards of the Latin, jazz and classical repertoires. His over 600 compositions include songs and zarzuelas as ...

and Dulce María Serret made a great impression on Margot Rojas Mendoza, who was then a child.

Europe

In 1915 Dulce María Serret was award a scholarship by the Havana city council to study in Spain at the

Madrid Royal Conservatory The Madrid Royal Conservatory ( es, Real Conservatorio Superior de Música de Madrid) is a music college in Madrid, Spain. History The Royal Conservatory of Music was founded on July 15, 1830, by royal decree, and was originally located in Mosten ...

. She studied under

José Tragó José Tragó y Arana (Madrid, 1857–1934) was a Spanish pianist and composer. He was a student of Albéniz.Walter Aaron Clark - Enrique Granados:Poet of the Piano 2005 - Page 55 "... professors and two professors of composition: Pilar Fernández ...

and won the prize of honour at the Conservatory. She graduated in 1917 and performed before the royal family. She performed throughout Spain and Portugal in large venues in major cities. At the age of 22 she moved to France in 1920 and attended the

Schola Cantorum de Paris The Schola Cantorum de Paris is a private conservatory in Paris. It was founded in 1894 by Charles Bordes, Alexandre Guilmant and Vincent d'Indy as a counterbalance to the Paris Conservatoire's emphasis on opera. History La Schola was found ...

, where she studied romanticism and ancient and modern music. In Paris she was taught by Édouard Risler.

Teacher

In May 1926 Dulce María Serret returned to Cuba and made her debut at the

Teatro Nacional de Cuba Teatro may refer to: * Theatre * Teatro (band) Teatro, Italian for "theatre", is a vocal group signed to the Sony BMG music label. The members of Teatro are Jeremiah James, Andrew Alexander, Simon Bailey and Stephen Rahman-Hughes. Band member ...

. On 15 July 1926 she performed with her brother Antonio in the Teatro Oriente in Santiago de Cuba. Antonio Serret founded the first symphony orchestra in Santiago de Cuba. They were both friends of the Cuban composer Alejandro García Caturla. Dulce María settled in Santiago de Cuba in 1927. Dulce María created a stir in her home town that led to creation of the Conservatory there, with Dulce María Serret as director. The Conservatory staged concerts, recitals and lectures. At the Provincial Conservatory she taught many well-known musicians. The composer Harold Gramatges was her pupil in 1928 at the Conservatorio Provincial of Oriente. He was one of her favorite students. Silvio Rogríguez Cardenas was also one of her pupils. The choral director Ana Ariaza was another. She spent most of her life teaching music. Dulce María Serret died in Havana on 30 May 1989.

Notes

Sources

* * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Serret Danger, Dulce Maria 1898 births 1989 deaths Cuban women pianists Cuban music educators Cuban pianists 20th-century Cuban educators 20th-century Cuban musicians 20th-century pianists Women music educators 20th-century women educators 20th-century women pianists