Guido López Gavilán del Rosario

Guido López-Gavilán is one of the most popular musicians of his generation. And when speaking of popularity, it is not only that which he enjoys among the musical community, but also among the rest of the Cuban people who feel as their own such well-known melodies as Un recuerdo, the Variaciones Cumbanchero or Camerata en guaguancó, all of his authorship and which are regularly heard on television and radio programs.

It is interesting to know that Master Guido began his music career somewhat late. He was then over fifteen years old when he decided to enter the current Amadeo Roldán Conservatory in Havana. He graduated in Choral Conducting in 1966, from the chair founded by professor Manuel Ochoa; subsequently he was a student of orchestra conducting under Soviet professor Danil Tiulin; in 1970 he entered the Chaikovsky Conservatory in Moscow, where he studied under Leo Guinsburg's direction until 1973 when he concluded his academic training.

From that year onward he served as guest conductor of the National Symphony Orchestra of Cuba. He is a professor of orchestra conducting at the Institute of Higher Art.

Guido López-Gavilán is acclaimed throughout the Americas as a conductor and composer. In this other capacity he has been awarded in the most relevant competitions held in Cuba, such as the National Composition Contest, the Competition of the Union of Writers and Artists of Cuba (UNEAC), and the Adolfo Guzmán Cuban Music Competition…, as well as at the New Music Festival in Winnipeg, Canada, where he received the Audience Award.

His catalog of works is diverse, as we find works for solo instruments, chamber ensembles, choir and orchestra. López-Gavilán's music is characterized by humor, excellent handling of Cuban rhythms and lyricism, which allows easy communication with the audience. Worth noting are La Apurrumbiosis, for mixed choir; Cuadros de otra exposición, for symphony orchestra; and Por el mar de las Antillas anda un violín, for violin and orchestra.

Regarding his work as orchestra conductor, the Thuringer Tageblatt from Germany expressed: "...Guido López Gavilán has caught attention by displaying musicality, passion, elegance, refined sense for the color of sonorities and the ability to manage large developments with assurance. Everything gave the impression that it had to be so necessarily in Shostakovich's 5th Symphony. He demonstrated his level fully, confirming that he is a musician whose fame is already rightfully recognized beyond the borders of his homeland." And Charles White, from The Fleisher Collection, of the United States: "...Pierrot Lunaire, by A. Schönberg, was conducted by Guido López Gavilán in a profound, precise and very significant version. He successfully managed to recreate the magic that emanates from this atonal spell, which only Schönberg was capable of conceiving."

We cannot speak of Guido López-Gavilán without highlighting his contributions to Cuban musical pedagogy and his effort to promote the creation and development of youth orchestras in the country. He is the founder of the Institute of Higher Art and was head of its orchestra conducting department for more than twenty years. Among his students are: Iván del Prado, Enrique Pérez Mesa, Anarelys Garriga, Daiana García and Adriana Sanabria, among others.

He is also founder and director of the Chamber Orchestra Música Eterna, with which he has conducted international tours and obtained the Cubadisco Award in 1999 in the chamber music category for the recording Barroco Trópico. His discography also includes Cuba and Puerto Rico, two composers: Guido López-Gavilán and Carlos Vázquez and Por el mar de las Antillas anda un violín.

He participated in the III Inter-American Composition Meeting, organized by Indiana University, United States, 1996; Ibero-American Festival of Contemporary Music, Spain; Franco Donatoni Festival, Mexico; VIII Forum of Caribbean Composers, Caracas, Venezuela.

He has conducted tours through Mexico, Ecuador, Colombia, Soviet Union, GDR, Poland, Hungary, Romania, Yugoslavia, Bulgaria.

On the family level, Guido has felt equally fulfilled: together with his wife, pianist and pedagogue Teresita Junco (now deceased), he formed a family of excellent musicians. That is why, in recent years it was a common occurrence to attend the family concerts that brought together Guido and Teresita and their children Ilmar (violin) and Aldo (piano), two outstanding Cuban instrumentalists.

Currently, the master shares his work at the head of the Symphony Orchestra of the Amadeo Roldán Conservatory, is president of the Association of Musicians of the Union of Writers and Artists of Cuba and of the International Festival of Contemporary Music in Havana. He is a member of the College of Latin American Art Music Composers.

Works
A modo de adivinanza
Camerata en guaguancó
Donde cayó mi hermano, cantata, text: Fayad Jamís
Mi canción
Variaciones cumbanchero (based on a work by Puerto Rican composer Rafael Hernández)
Variantes, choral and legend
Victoria de esperanza, for symphony orchestra, choir, soloists, actors, dance and film.