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 se ...

, Oriente, 16 March 1944) is a

Cuba Cuba, officially the Republic of Cuba, is an island country, comprising the island of Cuba (largest island), Isla de la Juventud, and List of islands of Cuba, 4,195 islands, islets and cays surrounding the main island. It is located where the ...

pianist A pianist ( , ) is a musician who plays the piano. A pianist's repertoire may include music from a diverse variety of styles, such as traditional classical music, jazz piano, jazz, blues piano, blues, and popular music, including rock music, ...

, 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 def ...

. 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 (; ) is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The heart of La Habana Province, Havana is the country's main port and commercial center.cabaret Cabaret is a form of theatrical entertainment featuring music song, dance, recitation, or drama. The performance venue might be a pub, casino, hotel, restaurant, or nightclub with a stage for performances. The audience, often dining or drinking, ...

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 (from Latin ''chorus'', meaning 'a dance in a circle') is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform or in other words ...

s and

symphonies A symphony is an extended musical composition in Western classical music, most often for orchestra. Although the term has had many meanings from its origins in the ancient Greek era, by the late 18th century the word had taken on the meaning c ...

to arrangements of popular music, as well as television and radio themes. He has worked with Silvio Rogíguez, Vicente Feliú, and

Pancho Amat Francisco Amat Rodríguez (born April 22, 1950), better known as Pancho Amat, is a Cuban musician specialized in the Tres (musical instrument), tres. In 1971, he became a founding member of Manguaré, which would become one of the leading ensemble ...

. On August 18, 2015, at age 71, Fernandez made his U.S. performance debut at the

Ravinia Festival Ravinia Festival is a primarily outdoor music venue in Highland Park, Illinois. It hosts a series of outdoor concerts and performances every summer from June to September in a wide variety of musical genres from classical to pop. The first orche ...

, in Highland Park, Illinois.

Compositions

*''Las Casas'' *''Vértigo de Lluvia''

Discography

* ''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 male composers 1944 births Living people People from Mayarí 20th-century Cuban people 20th-century Cuban composers 20th-century Cuban pianists 21st-century Cuban pianists Cuban male musicians