Francisco Fernández Dominicis, a prominent Cuban tenor, was born on November 28, 1883, in Havana. He began his career as an amateur, performing under the tutelage of Weremunda de Vieta at the popular gatherings held by the “dilettanti” Miguel Vieta at his residence in Vedado.

After a while, he began taking singing and music classes with the Spanish professor Pablo Meroles, who lived in Havana, while simultaneously studying accounting and working as a cashier at Banco Habana.

After a total of four years of studies with Professor Meroles, he performed it before a packed audience in the Peyrellade Conservatory on November 22, 1906. In his debut, the young singer performed the epilogue and romance from Arrigo Boito’s opera Mephistopheles, and his performance made a positive impact on contemporary critics. Weeks later, he performed at the same venue in regular concerts alongside pianist Eduardo Sánchez de Fuentes and was accompanied by the orchestra conducted by Maestro Arturo Bovi at the Presidential Palace (Refugio No. 1, Old Havana, Havana City) and at the Euskaro Center of Cuba.

In 1911, Francisco Fernández Dominicis personally met the great Spanish baritone Emilio Sagi-Barba, who, through the conciliation of Maestro Bovi himself, made his debut at the “Tacón” theater with his opera and zarzuela company.

Sagi-Barba then heard Francisco in a private audition, where he confessed his desire to sing Giacomo Puccini’s opera “Tosca” with such a prestigious company. However, Sagi-Barba offered him something grander, offering to hire him for his company for two hundred and fifty pesos a month for three years, with a fifty percent increase every six months. This offer filled the young singer with joy, but unfortunately, despite Sagi-Barba’s insistence, he had to see the opportunity pass due to his parents’ opposition.

That same year, he joined important casts with national artists and also became a member of the Alfredo Misa and Modesto Boceta Company. After numerous successes and accolades, Dominicis was inspired by a scholarship to Italy, but over time, already disappointed by countless deceptions and promises from many, he publicly expressed his rejection of official aid and embarked on his own on August 16, 1913, for Milan. There, he had the opportunity to meet the famous soprano Graziela Pareto and her husband, the composer Gabriel Sibella, whom he had previously met in Havana.

With Sibella, he studied for three months and learned Gaetano Donizetti’s opera La Favorita. Thanks to Gina Bonini, owner of the hotel where Ferdinand lived, he met the impresarios Comoli and Galioli, who secured his debut at the Coccia Theater in Novara on January 3, 1914, singing the opera he had learned with Sibella.

The performance was a resounding success, and he continued to sing the work thirteen times during the season. After the third performance, he was replaced due to illness by the tenor Paganelli and a South American tenor, who dissatisfied the honorable man and caused financial disruptions to the company, which would only be resolved after the young Cuban tenor’s recovery. These triumphs heralded a great harvest of successes as an operatic tenor in theaters throughout Europe, primarily in Italy, where he became the first and only Cuban to sing at Milan’s Teatro Scala as an official member of the company that presides over it.

Francisco Fernández Dominicis returned to Cuba, where he dedicated himself to teaching singing for several decades. In December 1936, a concert was held at the Auditorium Theater, exclusively for his students, in honor of the 30th anniversary of his artistic career.

On February 1, 1941, he published an article in the magazine Cubamena entitled “Puccini and his opera Turandot,” on the occasion of the Cuban premiere of the work on record. In July 1942, he organized the Cuban premiere of Puccini’s opera La Rondine at the Teatro Principal de la Comedia.

In 1946, the Havana Society held a tribute to him in the halls of the Casa Cultural (Cultural House) for his forty years of artistic career. On April 8, 1955, tenor Francisco Fernández Dominicis was awarded the “Carlos Manuel de Céspedes” Order. In 1967, he was honored for his sixty years of work and his contribution to the development of Cuban culture.

Francisco Fernández Dominicis died on February 3, 1968.