Francisco Fernández Tamayo (Frank Fernández) is a Cuban pianist, concert composer, arranger, record producer, and educator. Born on March 16, 1946, in Mayarí, he began playing the piano “by ear” at the age of four. A year later, his first teacher was his mother, Altagracia Tamayo, director of the Orbón Academy in his hometown. He later expanded his knowledge with Martín Meléndez, director of the Municipal Band, and also participated in musical gatherings with the most representative Cuban troubadours of the era.

He received his advanced studies from the great pianist and Emeritus Professor Viktor Merzhanov, drawing on knowledge from the famous Russian piano school, gathered over five years at the Tchaikovsky Conservatory in Moscow, culminating with a “Summa cum laude” degree.

In 1988, Frank Fernández premiered the five-part Beethoven concerto series with the National Symphony Orchestra on two consecutive nights. In Prague, that same year, he was chosen among the world’s finest pianists to perform Tchaikovsky’s Concerto No. 1 in the same Smetana Hall where the composer himself had first conducted it a century earlier.

His performance in Tokyo (1992) was selected among the ten most important events of the year in Japan. In 1997, he inaugurated the Global Panel in the Netherlands; and in 1999, he received the important title of Doctor Honoris Causa in Art from the Instituto Superior de Arte (3rd and G Streets, Vedado, Plaza de la Revolución, Havana). He won the 2000 Cubadisco Award in the “Concerting Soloist” category for the CD “Todo Mozart.”

He participated in Santo Domingo, in the Opening Gala of the Ministers of Culture of Latin America and the Caribbean in 2001. That same year, he was nominated for the National Award for Artistic Teaching by the Cuban Institute of Music (Calle 15 No. 452 corner of F, Vedado, Plaza de la Revolución, Havana) in our country.

In Germany, he was invited to premiere the Chamber Hall of the Shauspielhaus in Berlin, opening the “Great Piano Masters” series, becoming the only Latin American to be so honored until 1984. In 2002, in Berlin, he performed the opening ceremony for the World Tourism Convention at the Messe Theater. He received the 2002 Cubadisco Award in the “Instrumental Music” category for the music for the soap opera “Tierra Brava.”

In 2004, he participated in the presentation concert of the first world edition of the recording and sheet music of the complete works of dances and contradanzas by Ignacio Cervantes and Manuel Saumell, “Fathers of Cuban Music,” held at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts, San Fernando Palace in Madrid.

That year, the Higher Institute of Art of Cuba (1110 Calle 120 between 9th and 13th, Cubanacán, Playa, Havana) awarded him the “Diploma of Honor” for artistic and pedagogical mastery. This was the second time in the history of Cuban arts.

In 2005, Frank Fernández received the National Music Award for his lifetime achievement.

Frank Fernández performed in 2006 in the Great Hall of the Tchaikovsky Conservatory with the Moscow Symphony Orchestra at the “Orfeo” Festival sponsored by Moscow’s leading classical radio station.

Regarding recording proposals, in 2008 Frank was able to make one of his projects a reality, being the musical producer of the album Santa Lucía, released by the Bis Music label, to reveal the exceptional voice of María Victoria who, accompanied by the group Clásicos del Son, express with evident clarity the richness that distinguishes our Cuban popular music.

Also that year, the EGREM record label released the album “Dos Trovadores.” Danny Rivera and Frank Fernández excel in a beautiful anthology of traditional trova that includes true classics of the genre from both Cuba and Puerto Rico, performed with Rivera’s nostalgic accent and Fernández’s inspired piano creativity.

On the occasion of his 65th birthday and 50 years of artistic career, the exceptional Cuban pianist Frank Fernández was honored at Cubadisco 2009 and received the “Phonographic Producer” award for his lifetime achievement, a category awarded for the first time in the country.

That same year, pianist Frank Fernández received the Fame Award, a symbol of the city of Guantánamo; and at the Basilica of San Francisco, he was awarded the Medal for the 280th Anniversary of the University of Havana (University Avenue and Vedado District, Revolution Square, Havana).

In our country, Frank Fernández has inaugurated the “Sala Dolores” (Reloj esq. Aguilera, Santiago de Cuba) in Santiago de Cuba, the “Basílica Menor del Convento de San Francisco de Asís” (Oficios e/ Amargura y Churruca, Old Havana, Havana), and the Concert Hall of the “José Martí Memorial”. He has performed as principal soloist in the Galas commemorating the centenary of the birth of Ernesto Lecuona, in the Closing Gala for the bicentennial of the death of Franz Schubert, and in 2010 he was selected to officially inaugurate the 200th anniversary of the birth of Frédéric Chopin, his recital serving as the opening of the “Chopin Year” in Cuba.

He debuted in Vancouver and Regina, Canada, to great acclaim in 2009 and participated again in 2010, performing a dazzling concert in front of over 2,100 people at the Conexus Centre in Regina.

In October 2010, his new album, “Novia mía,” was presented to the press at the Bertolt Brecht Cultural Center. The album, released on Artex’s Bis Music label, features among its core values ​​the reflection of Frank Fernández’s passion and characteristic virtuosity through his brilliant performances. The project’s inspirational muse is Alina Neira (an excellent cellist), the prestigious pianist’s life partner. Love is the main motivation, starting with the song “Novia mía” by José Antonio Méndez, which gives the album its title and opening.

Also in 2010, he received the “Maestro de Juventudes” Award, the highest honor bestowed by the country’s youth, for his life’s work and personal career, which are considered examples and paradigms for new generations of writers and artists.

On January 11, 2011, the Economic Society of Friends of the Country, a historic institution founded in 1792 and to which great Cuban intellectuals who have shaped Cuban culture have belonged, awarded the Félix Varela Prize to Professor Frank Fernández.

Frank has had a brilliant career as a concert artist, performing in prestigious halls of musical tradition in Europe, Asia and Latin America such as: Moscow, Paris, Tokyo, Berlin, Madrid, Warsaw, Prague, Luxembourg, Barcelona, ​​Riga, Osaka, Vancouver, as well as in concerts with orchestras in Russia, Japan, Bulgaria, Mexico, Brazil, Romania, Holland, Colombia, Germany, Korea, Yugoslavia, Venezuela, Vietnam, Poland, Costa Rica, Cuba, among others.

Frank Fernández has written more than 650 works for a variety of formats: ballets, choirs and symphonies, works for popular music groups, soundtracks for film (including the film “Fresa y Chocolate”), radio and television.

He is a member of the National Council of UNEAC and an Artist of Merit, the organization’s highest distinction. He has won important awards in various competitions, such as the “Caracol de Música” award for Best Original Soundtrack for Film, Radio, and Television, which he received four times.

He has received numerous distinctions and decorations, including the Alejo Carpentier Medal (1982) and the Félix Varela Order of First Degree (1994).

Frank Fernández is a world-class musician and, in the opinion of experts and his people, one of the greatest exponents of Cuban culture of all time. He has not only demonstrated a profound mastery of the classics but has also enriched Cuban popular music.

Throughout his years as an artist, Frank Fernández has garnered critical acclaim, calling him “a being touched by divinity,” “one of the masterful interpreters of the most sublime moments in universal music,” and “unprecedentedly an unforgettable pianist.”

His extensive discography includes: Frank Fernández y sus 2 pianos (1960), Latin American Music Encounter (1972), Cuban Dances by Ignacio Cervantes (Frank Fernández) (1975); 4th Beethoven Concerto (1978), Music from the Original Soundtrack of the Serial “The Great Rebellion” (1981); Lecuona (Piano Dances) – Gershwin (Rhapsody in Blue) (1985), Beethoven-Schumann Great Piano Masters Cycle (1987), From Music Vol. 1 (1988), Bach-Chopin Great Piano Masters Cycle (1989), Tchaikovsky-Gershwin (1992), Cuban and Universal (1994), From Music (1994), Lecuona-Cervantes (1995), Liszt-Mozart-Schumann (1997), All Mozart (1999), CD 1 All Cervantes (2001), CD 2 All Saumell (2001), Tierra Brava (2002), Complete Chopin Nocturnes 2 discs (2002), Love and Pain (2003), Beethoven’s most famous sonatas Vol. 1 (2003), Gershwin-Mozart (2004), Always Until Victory (2005), Lecuona-Cervantes (2005), Beethoven’s Most Famous Sonatas Vol. 2 (2005), Tribute to Gades. The Great Rebellion (2005), Two Troubadours (2007), DVD With the Soul in the Hands (2007), My Girlfriend (2010).