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 ...
n-born American pianist.
Early life and education
Born in
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.César Pérez Sentenat, continuing later with María Jones de Castro at the Conservatorio Internacional in that city, She played several recitals between the ages of 11 and 16, and then debuted at the Teatro Nacional when she was sixteen years old. With her brother José Pedro she came to the United States via
Operation Peter Pan
Operation Peter Pan (or Operación Pedro Pan) was a clandestine exodus of over 14,000 unaccompanied Cuban minors ages 6 to 18 to the United States over a two-year span from 1960 to 1962. They were sent by parents who feared, on the basis of unsu ...
, arriving in 1961; their parents followed them nearly a year later. She continued her musical studies in the United States. She received a Bachelor of Music in piano from
DePaul University
DePaul University is a private university, private Catholic higher education, Catholic research university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Founded by the Congregation of the Mission, Vincentians in 1898, the university takes its name from ...
in 1965 and received a Master of Music, also in piano, from
Northwestern University
Northwestern University (NU) is a Private university, private research university in Evanston, Illinois, United States. Established in 1851 to serve the historic Northwest Territory, it is the oldest University charter, chartered university in ...
the following year. In 1983 she received a Doctor of Musical Arts from
Stanford University
Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth ...
Carnegie Hall
Carnegie Hall ( ) is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. It is at 881 Seventh Avenue (Manhattan), Seventh Avenue, occupying the east side of Seventh Avenue between 56th Street (Manhattan), 56th and 57th Street (Manhattan), 57t ...
. During her career she has performed throughout the United States and Europe, appearing in such venues as the Concertgebouw Klein Zaal in
Amsterdam
Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the City Re ...
, Reid Hall in Edinburgh, and the Brahmssaal of the
Musikverein
The ( or ; ), commonly shortened to , is a concert hall in Vienna, Austria, which is located in the Innere Stadt district. The building opened in 1870 and is the home of the Vienna Philharmonic orchestra.
The acoustics of the building's 'Grea ...
in
Vienna
Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...
. She has performed as soloist with orchestras throughout the United States, including the Owensboro, Tucson, Chattanooga, Grand Junction, Billings, Olympia, Saginaw, and Dubuque symphony orchestras. In Seoul, she recorded Mômo Precoce (H. Villalobos) in a live concert with the Seoul Philharmonic. A noted champion of piano music by Spanish and Latin American composers, she received the NEA Solo Recitalist Fellowship in 1989 and La Rosa Blanca from the Patronato José Martí (Los Angeles) in 1996.
From 1990 to 2001 Fernández was a professor of music in the School of Music and Dance at the
University of Arizona
The University of Arizona (Arizona, U of A, UArizona, or UA) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Tucson, Arizona, United States. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, it ...
; in 2000 she was named interim head of the media arts department in the College of Fine Arts at that institution. She served as the Dean of the Claire Trevor School of the Arts at the
University of California, Irvine
The University of California, Irvine (UCI or UC Irvine) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Irvine, California, United States. One of the ten campuses of the University of California system, U ...
from 2003 to 2008 before retiring.
In film
A recording by Fernández of the ''Berceuse Campesina'' by
Alejandro García Caturla
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. With only sixteen years old, in 1922, he won ...
was included in the soundtrack of the film '' The Lost City'' at the request of its director,
Andy García
Andrés Arturo García Menéndez (born April 12, 1956) is an American actor, director, producer, and musician. He first rose to prominence acting in Brian De Palma's '' The Untouchables'' (1987) alongside Kevin Costner, Sean Connery, and ...