José Raul Bernardo Pérez

He is a true "Renaissance man," born in La Habana, Cuba. Son of José Bernardo and Raquel Pérez.

As a young man, he studied piano, theory, solfège, and composition at the conservatory of La Habana, graduating in 1950. During this period he also read with great avidity.

His passion for art led him to study architecture. In 1959, following the triumph of the Cuban Revolution, he emigrated from Cuba to the United States. There he obtained a scholarship from Columbia University, with which he completed a master's degree in architecture, obtaining magna cum laude, and finally obtained his doctorate.

He studied music at the University of Miami where he obtained a master's degree in 1969.

During this time he also devoted himself to writing poetry and composing music. Years later he was the author of novels that were published in many countries and translated into several languages.

Among his musical compositions are concertos for piano, violin, viola, and harpsichord; various chamber and solo works; a symphony, two operas, and several dozen films. His deepest passion was composing music with that special Cuban rhythm.

Among his most important novels are El secreto de los toros, Las sabias mujeres de La Habana, and El secreto de los andes.

After moving to the United States, he was an architect at Harrison and Abramovitz, 1964-1967, the vice-president of the Museum of Planning Incorporated, 1967-1969, and an architect at Joyner / Bernardo, 1969 to the present.

Among his musical achievements, he wrote an opera, "La Niña de Guatemala," in 1974, a work based on the poem of the same name by Cuban poet and patriot.

After a long battle with lymphoma, he succumbed on February 4, 2008.