Joaquín Clerch Díaz, a prominent Cuban guitarist, began his musical studies as a student of guitar teacher Leopoldina Núñez. Later, in 1977, he enrolled at the National School of Art (120th Street between 9th and 13th, Cubanacán, Playa, Havana). There, he received his training from Martha Cuerva and Antonio Rodríguez. He continued his musical training in composition and guitar with Carlos Fariñas and Rey Guerra at the ISA (1110th Street between 9th and 13th, Cubanacán, Playa, Havana). He completed his studies in 1989 and later studied with Isaac Nicola, Leo Brouwer, and Costas Cotsiolis.

In 1990, he enrolled at the Mozarteum School in Salzburg, Austria, where he studied with Eliot Fisk. He studied early music with teachers Anthony Spiri and Nicolaus Harmoncourt. The following year, Joaquín Clerch completed his studies with excellent grades, earning him the Ministry of Culture’s prize for outstanding graduates.

Joaquín Clerch Díaz has performed in a wide variety of venues, both nationally and internationally, including the Vienna Konzerthaus; the Cologne Philharmonic Hall; the Madrid Music Orchestra Auditorium; and the National Theatre of Cuba (Paseo and 39th Street, Vedado, Plaza de la Revolución, Havana), among others.

He has also shared the stage with leading figures in music, and has been accompanied by, among others, Eliot Fisk, Anthony Spiri, violinist Ruggiero Ricci and Gunter Teuffel, violinist with the Stuttgart Radio Orchestra, the Bavarian Radio Orchestra, the Mozarteum Symphony Orchestra, the Orchestre National du Capitole de Toulouse and the Gran Canaria Philharmonic Orchestra.

Together with the Gran Canaria Philharmonic Orchestra, he made the world’s first recording of Leo Brouwer’s El concierto le La Habana in 1998 and Carlos Fariñas’ Concerto for Guitar and Orchestra in 1996, both composed especially for him.

His compositional credit includes the creation of his first Concerto for Guitar and Orchestra in 2001, which premiered with Ricardo Gallén in Torrent, Valencia, Spain. He currently works as a teacher at the Robert Schumann University of Music in Düsseldorf and continues to pursue a successful career as an instrumentalist.

Among the awards and recognitions that Joaquín Clerch Días has accumulated throughout his career, we can mention: first prize in the Amadeo Roldán Competition (1982); first prize in the Composition Competition of the Union of Writers and Artists of Cuba, for his work for solo instrument Yemayá, (1986); the special prize for the best interpretation of a work by Bach, in the III International Guitar Competition and Festival of Havana (1986); and first prize in the VI Andrés Segovia International Guitar Competition, Spain (1989).