For countless people, being able to play the guitar has served as an entry point to very successful careers in music: especially when it comes to pop music, right? Well picking up a guitar doesn’t only lead to things like rock and roll. For one man from Cuba, the guitar opened the door to composition, conducting, and lots more. Hola – I’m Loki Karuna and on this edition of Noteworthy I’d like to highlight one of Cuba’s finest – the guitarist, conductor, and composer known as Leo Brouwer.
Señor Juan Leovigildo Brouwer Mezquida was born in 1939 and started his journey with the guitar when he was about 13. After giving his first public performance just a few years after starting the guitar, he was encouraged not only to continue his studies, but to write music for the instrument that shined a light on his heritage. So he did just, with this Afro-Cuban Lullaby being among his first original works for solo guitar.
Soon after his first performance and writing his first compositions, he moved to the US where he continued his studies as a guitarist, composer, and later, conductor. He eventually earned a highly coveted spot as a Member of Honor of the International Music Council, with his influence continuing to impact the guitar world, and contemporary classical music, overall, easily making Leo Brouwer one of the most Noteworthy artists of our general.
Noteworthy is a production of WDAV, classical public radio.