Fernando Arizti is one of the great founders of Cuban musical culture. He was born in Havana in 1828. He began his musical studies at the age of seven and studied in Havana with Agustín Sascantes, Eneas Elías, and Juan F. Edelmann. He later studied with the distinguished Kalkbrenner in Paris, where he traveled in 1842. Kalkbrenner became an admirer of the young Cuban pianist.

After completing his musical education in Paris, he traveled to Spain, where he gave highly successful concerts in Madrid and Vizcaya. In 1848, he returned to his homeland, where musical culture flourished among high society. The victorious pianist, who knew how to captivate his audiences with the elegance of his performances and with a style that elicited transparent sounds from the instrument, was showered with honors.

He did not continue his career as a concert artist, which had begun so brilliantly, but rather, attracted by the affections of his family and his country, he decided to settle in Havana and dedicate himself to teaching music.

Arizti succeeded in transmitting to Cuba the teachings and the finest examples of the art he knew so deeply and loved so fervently. His enriching work as a teacher lasted 40 years, and among his students were figures of Cuban music such as Nicolás Ruiz Espadero, Angelina Sicouret, María de los Ángeles Soberón, and his daughter Cecilia Arizti.

Indelible musical gatherings were held at his home, where the excellent performances of high-quality musical programs by artists, professors, and amateurs reached international standards and competed with their peers in the most cultured cities of Europe. Fernando Arizti died in 1888.