Frank Fernández (pianist)

Frank Fernández Tamayo (born Mayarí, Oriente, 16 March 1944) is a Cuban pianist, teacher and composer.^[1][2] He began playing the piano at 4 years old. A year later he began with his first teacher--his mother--Altagracia Tamayo, director of the Obrón Academy in his birthplace.

A classically trained musician, Frank Fernández studied with some of the best teachers in the world. Throughout all his years as an artist, critics have described him 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," among others. Fernández has written more than 650 works in different formats, from ballets, choirs and symphonies to arrangements of popular music, television, and radio. He has worked with artists such as Silvio Rogíguez, Vicente Feliú, Pancho Amat and more.

On August 18, 2015, At the age of 71, Frank Fernandez had his performance debut in the United States at the Ravinia Festival, in Highland Park, Illinois.

Compositions

• Las Casas
• Vértigo de Lluvia

Discography

^[3]

• Frank Fernandez Y Sus 2 Pianos (1960)
• Encuentro de música latinoamericana (1972)
• Danzas cubanas- Ignacio Cervantez (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 travadores (2007)
• Con el alma en las manos (DVD) (2007)
• Novia mía (2010)

References

1. Cuba International: Issue 7; Issues 10-12, 1989: "MAYARI-HAVANA-MOSCOW A few months after the guerrilla fighters came down from the Sierra Maestra mountains, Frank Fernández arrived in Havana: 15 years old and thinking he knew all there was to know about piano....The latter's recommendation was: "Frank Fernández could be a great choral director. but a better pianist. "
2. High fidelity Musical America: Volume 31, Issue 2, 1981: "Cuba's renowned pianist and composer, Frank Fernandez, was soloist in the Rachmaninoff Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini. Fernández realized all the Romantic elements of this work with a toss-off ease and even traces of humor."
3. http://www.frankfernandezpianista.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=47&Itemid=119&lang=en