Juan Manuel Piñera Infante

Prominent Cuban composer and pianist. His work has achieved accomplishments in the creation of electroacoustic music. Heir to renowned Cuban composers such as Juan Blanco, Carlos Fariñas and Leo Brouwer. National Radio Prize 2018.

Born in Havana, Cuba. He began his piano studies in 1965 with César Pérez Sentenat, continued them in 1967 at the Alejandro García Caturla Conservatory with Silvio Rodríguez Cárdenas, and was also a student of Argentine harpsichordist Lidia Guerberof.

In 1968 he entered the National School of Music (Cubanacán), where he studied with Ninowska Fernández-Brito, Silvio Rodríguez Cárdenas and Mexican pianist Ana Martínez Estrada.

That same year he studied the works of Federico Chopin and Alexander Scriabin with Polish pianist Halina Czerny-Stefanska; in 1969 he took harmony classes from Enrique Bellver and piano lessons from Margot Rojas.

In 1972 he completed his secondary studies at the National School of Music. Subsequently he was a composition student of José Ardévol and Enrique Bellver and concluded those studies at the Superior Institute of Art with Roberto Valera.

In 1985 he premiered "Residuos," for string quartet, at the Cuba-Netherlands Festival '85, held in the Concertgebouw hall in Amsterdam and in that same city, but in the Ijsbreker Hall, alongside pianist Marten Bon, Evidencias.

Piñera is a composer who moves, technically and aesthetically speaking, in the most diverse directions, but, according to Marta Rodríguez Cuervo:
"Many of his works, particularly those with simpler constructions, attempt to promote greater accessibility to the public. Piñera's music captures that intimate quality so characteristic of Cuban daily life, which displays music that is simple in its structuring, conceived to be written in an accessible score, that evokes popular types of genres, and that appears infused with an implicit theatricality, closer to gesture than to the event itself."

Regarding that theatricality of which Rodríguez Cuervo speaks, playwright Abelardo Estorino states:
"Juan Piñera has worked on, among others, two of my pieces that have satisfied me most from a sonic point of view. I am referring to Vagos rumores and Parece blanca. These two works, although they take place in the nineteenth century, have different atmospheres and refer to conflicts that remain present in our society.

The musical concepts that Piñera handles from contemporary music and his knowledge of Cuban popular music, plus his deep-rooted interest in theater, have allowed him to confront the sonority of stage productions with a security and creativity that has achieved a relationship between text and soundtrack so expressive that it has influenced the actors; he has also been able to combine this with lighting design, so that the pieces flow without obstacles.

For the beginning of these two works he has written scores that place the spectator in the setting where the works will take place. Some sonic elements such as church bells, sounds of clocks, a carriage moving away and others, are so subtly united to the melodic part of his work and to the text spoken by the actors, that they give the impression that the different elements emerge from one another with an organicity that leads the spectator to enjoy, reflect or become moved in accordance with the purpose for which the stage production was undertaken."

To this is added his sensitivity in working with texts by poets and playwrights of the most varied tendencies and styles, all treated with the lyricism that characterizes him. "For the most part it is music which, despite its tonal clarity and the simplicity of its language, is written with a completely spontaneous technical subtlety."

And Rodríguez Cuervo concludes:
"Similarly, a portion of his production shows another of his principal characteristics: the tendency to conceive the stylistic unity of the composition on the basis of diversity and contrast.

Musically these works maintain a certain transparency in a language that skillfully mixes techniques derived from the use of counterpoint, variations and ostinatos, with experimental techniques that include so-called musical indeterminacy, collage and electroacoustics [...].

One could not overlook, when speaking of the experimentation in Juan Piñera's work, his accomplishments in the creation of electroacoustic music. Heir to renowned Cuban composers such as Juan Blanco, Carlos Fariñas and Leo Brouwer.

Piñera, since the 1980s, has developed an important body of work in the conception of a repertoire of works written especially for this medium, and in the dissemination of a type of music that, integrated into other contexts, offers expressive possibilities which the composer has wisely known how to take advantage of.

These accomplishments have been valued and recognized in various events both national and international."

Awards
Competitions March 13, 1977 and 1978
La Edad de Oro, 1978
First mention at the Prix-Danubio, to the artistic team of the production Toqui, Bratislava, Czechoslovakia, 1983
Award at the XII International Electroacoustic Music Competition, Bourges, France
Tres de dos in 1984, award shared with composer Edesio Alejandro
Award from the III TRIMALCA, Tribune of Music from Latin America and the Caribbean, held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, 1984
Electroacoustic music award, UNEAC, 1988
Symphonic music award in the National Competition of the same institution

Events
National
Contemporary Music Days
Music Festivals of Socialist Countries, organized by UNEAC
Electroacoustic Music Festival

International
Festival Neus Musik, Lüneburg, Federal Republic of Germany
Gaudeamus International Week, Netherlands
IRCAN Creation Forum, France
Stockholm Music Festival, Sweden
Warsaw Autumn Festival, Poland
The Lute and Guitar from the Renaissance to the Avant-Garde
The Language of Music, III Edition, 1987, Florence, Italy
Festival Interpodium, Bratislava, Czechoslovakia
Ibero-American Meeting of Video Art and Computer Music, 1989, Madrid, Spain
Rex Música. International Festival of Electroacoustic Music, Baltimore, 1988, United States
International Meeting of Contemporary Music, Buenos Aires, Argentina
Electroacoustic Music Day, Núcleo de Música Nueva, 1986, Montevideo, Uruguay
Cuba-Mexico Electroacoustic Music Meeting

Works
Ballet
Eclosión, 1987, for instrumental ensemble and electroacoustic music, libretto and choreography: José Antonio Chávez
Imago, 1989, for instrumental ensemble, guitar and mixed chorus, libretto and choreography: Rosario Cárdenas
Yellow dreams, 1990, choreography: Caridad Martínez
Juana, razón y amor, 1992, electroacoustic music, libretto and choreography: Alicia Alonso
Tula, 1989, libretto: José Ramón Rodríguez Neira and Alicia Alonso, choreography: Alicia Alonso

Instrumental ensemble
De lo que sube al cielo, 1978, for violin, flute, clarinet, percussion, cello and piano
Tempus Destruendis, 1981, for wind quintet
Trío de los ángeles, 1982, for flute, harp and celesta
Residuos, 1984, for string quartet
Más allá del mar del tiempo, 1987, for violin, cello and piano
El mar del tiempo perdido
"Al tercer día de lluvia"
"El ahogado más hermoso del mundo"
"El último viaje del buque fantasma," 1987, for violin and piano
El ahogado más hermoso del mundo, 1988, for clarinet and piano
Impromptu in F of Federico Chopin, 1991, for violin, cello and piano
Hecatombe y alborada, 1992, for violin, cello and piano
Música para los Desencuentros, 1998, for flute, harp and double bass
Órficas, 1999, for violin and piano

Mixed chorus a cappella
La piña, text: Gabriela Mistral
Piano score
Piano score
Las muchachas, 1975, text: Juan A. Cuadra
Hoy debemos convertir los versos en acero, text: Ho Chi Minh
Tan cerca y sin embargo, text: Ho Chi Minh
Luna llena de enero, 1977, text: Ho Chi Minh
Las coplas de Pancho Alday, 1978, text: Juan Marinello
Aquella frente tuya, 1980, text: Juan Marinello
Es el amor la mitad de la vida, 1998, text: José Marín Varona

Chorus and symphonic orchestra
La travesía secreta, 1996, for mixed chorus and orchestra

Guitar
Dúos para un Dúo, for two guitars, 1996

Guitar and magnetic tape
Del espectro nocturno, 1986
Del Lucero Favorable, 1987-1988
Imago, 1989
Pámpano y Cascabel, 1994
Las pequeñas muertes de la Despedida, 1995

Solo instrument and symphonic orchestra
Concierto, 1992, for piano and orchestra

Solo instrument, chorus and chamber orchestra
Concierto del centenario, 1983, for piano, mixed chorus and orchestra

Solo instrument, chorus and symphonic orchestra
Fresco, 1981, for piano, mixed chorus and orchestra

Solo instruments and chamber orchestra
Concierto, 1995, for flute, oboe, piano and orchestra

Solo instruments and string orchestra
Entre mi muerte y tu delirio, 1992, for violin, solo viola and orchestra

Electroacoustic music
Pirandelliana, 1983, for two actors and magnetic tape
Evoestros
Tres de dos (co-author: Edesio Alejandro)
Voix des deux, 1984
Germinal, 1987
Del canto y el tiempo
Cuando el aura es aura o La muy triste historia de ocho minutos con treintiocho segundos, for saxophone, soprano and magnetic tape, 1991
La Bals
"En un minuto"
"Vals olvidado"
"El manubrio azul," 1996-1998

Incidental music for film
El insomnio, 1991
Basura, 1992
Al cerrar los ojos, 1993
El hombre ilustrado, 1993-1994
La fidelidad, 1994
First, 1997

Incidental music for theater
Ismaelillo, 1974, text: José Martí
Amor de don Perlimplín con Belisa en su jardín, text: Federico García Lorca
Los clavos de plata, text: anonymous farce collected by W. Sickus
El dragoncillo, text: Pedro Calderón de la Barca
Las troyanas, text: Euripides, 1977
Poems and children's songs, by Lorca
El retablo de las maravillas
La casa del marinero, text: Ignacio Gutiérrez, 1978
Juguemos al mundo a mirar, text: Fernando Quiñones, 1980
Aquí en el barrio, text: Carlos Torrens
Mundo de cristal, text: Tennessee Williams, 1981
Esta noche se improvisa la comedia, text: Luigi Pirandello, 1983
El caballo de Ceiba, text: Rogelio Castillo and Fernando Sáez
La primera vez, text: Jorge Ibarra
Bajo la luna gitana, text: Federico García Lorca
Provinciana, text: Gerardo Fulleda León, 1985
Electra Garrigó, text: Virgilio Piñera, 1986
Estación de cambio, text: Rodolfo Pérez Valero, 1987
Arriba, corazón, text: Osvaldo Dragún
La verbena de la paloma o El boticario, las chulapas y celos mal reprimidos, text: Ricardo de la Vega
Chago de Guisa, text: Gerardo Fulleda León, 1989
Un tranvía llamado deseo
Tea and Sympathy and Crystal Zoo, texts: Tennessee Williams
La bacanal de los sentidos and A Moscú, texts: Carlos Díaz
La niñita querida, text: Virgilio Piñera, 1989-1990
Falsa alarma, text: Virgilio Piñera
Cinderella, text: Luis Brunet, 1990
Ay, zapaterita, text: Federico García Lorca
El tío Francisco and the Leandras, text: version by Berta Martínez of the original
Ay, Virgilio, text: Virgilio Piñera, 1991
La hija de Nacho, text: Rolando Ferrer
The Miser, text: Luis Brunet
Juego de intereses, text: Jacinto Benavente
La catedral del helado, text: Senel Paz, 1992
La Celestina, text: Fernando de Rojas
La otra Celestina, text: Pepe Santos
Vagos rumores, text: Abelardo Estorino
Lysistrata, text: ?
Ay, Carmela, text: José Sánchiz Sinisterra
Tres tazas de trigo and El ladrón, texts: Salvador Lemis
Los intereses creados, text: Tony Díaz
Unos cuantos niños and Arropamientos, caras y caretas, texts: Virgilio Piñera
La piedad, text: Raúl Alfonso, 1993
Para comerte mejor, text: Senel Paz
El público, text: Federico García Lorca
Adiós a mamá, text: Francisco García
En la calle, text: Hubert Llamas
Dos perdidos en una noche sucia, text: Juan Carlos Maurén
El informe, text: Virgilio Piñera, 1994
El No, text: Virgilio Piñera
Homenaje, text: Francisco García
Las culpables, text: Margarita Yourcenar
La paloma negra, text: Salvador Lemis
Encuentros de extremos peligros en el parque, text: José Raúl Cruz
Amadeus, text: Tony Díaz, 1995
Parece blanca, text: Abelardo Estorino
Homenaje a Rafael Alberti, text: Carlos Díaz, on poems by Rafael Alberti
Las de Caín, text: Elio Martín
El juego del amor y el azar, text: Luis Brunet
El Caballero de París, text: Francisco García
Mamá, text: Raúl Alfonso, 1996
Medea, text: Reinaldo Montero
Puebla de las mujeres, text: Elio Martín, 1997
Los soles truncos, text: René Márquez
El león y la domadora, text: Antonio Orlando Rodríguez, 1998
Yo no soy el rey Lear, text: Manuel Dionís- Bayer, 1999

Music for choreography
Del espectro nocturno, 1986, for guitar and magnetic tape, choreography: Rosario Cárdenas
Germinal, 1986, electroacoustic music, choreography: Rosario Cárdenas
El ángel interior, for Cuban percussion and magnetic tape, choreography: Rosario Cárdenas
Dédalo, 1989, for magnetic tape and musical collage, libretto: Rosario Cárdenas and Salvador Lemis, choreography: Rosario Cárdenas
Diana, 1989, electroacoustic music with processed human voice (Fernando Marcoleta, tenor), choreography: Rosario Cárdenas; CO(N)M (B) INATORIA-09, 1989, Electroacoustic music and collage, libretto and choreography: Rosario Cárdenas
Múltiplex, 1990, electroacoustic music, choreography: Rosario Cárdenas
Ú-ter-O, 1990, electroacoustic music, libretto and choreography: Lázaro Horta
Bajo raíces, electroacoustic music, choreography: Rosario Cárdenas
Destellos, 1994, electroacoustic music, libretto and choreography: Eduardo Rivero
Enjambre, 1996, electroacoustic music, choreography: Luz María Collazo; Opus 28 # 15, or "de la Gota de Agua," 1997, electroacoustic music, choreography: Rosario Cárdenas
María Viván, 1997, electroacoustic music and collage, choreography: Rosario Cárdenas

Opera
Amor con amor se paga, 1987, two acts; text: José Martí
La taza de café, 1989, two acts; libretto: Juan Ramón Amán, based on the work of the same name by Rolando Ferrer

String orchestra
Suite peregrina
"Waltz"
"Dance"
"Minuet-scherzo"
"Minuet"
"Habanera"
"Romanza"
"Contradanza," 1998

Guitar orchestra
Habanera con cadencias
Canción de cuna para una pupila insomne
Vals olvidado, 1999

Symphonic orchestra
Como naufragios, 1988
Juana, razón y amor, 1992

Piano
La "cosa" no está en el título, 1973
Tres polifonías para jóvenes ejecutantes
Sonatina scarlattiana, 1975
Quasi alla sinistra, for the left hand, 1976
Para una ocasión este cantus non muy firmus, 1977
In the manner of Debussy, 1978
Prelude and extemporary fugue
Tres interludios para Ruandi, 1979
In the manner of Gershwin, Passacaglia, 1980
Isabelinas. Historia de un fraude, 1983
Antes del desayuno o El libro de los casi..., 1987
Todo el pasado vuelve como una ola o De las ramificaciones infinitas
Inti, the parable of the sun
Con la violencia de la cortante piedra silenciosa, torturada de salitre, 1993
Pequeña fantasía para una paloma equivocada, 1996

Solo voice and symphonic orchestra
Cuatro primeras canciones, 1977, text: Yolanda Ulloa

Voice and piano
Cual de incensario roto, 1974
Tres canciones infantiles
Cuatro primeras canciones
Lluvia y tempestad, 1975
Amor, amor
Por la ladera del monte como un arroyo bajando la canción
De enero a enero, 1976
Canto como quien juega, 1978
En la casa que recuerdo, 1979
Sigue el viento obstinado contra el águila en vuelo, 1980
Canciones perdidas, 1981
El banco que murió de amor, 1983
Canciones del nuevo mar, 1987
Elogio del cartero
Arpa y sol
Vecindades abisales
De tu mar antiguo, 1988
Diálogo, 1990
Agonías, 1992
Amar en mí, 1994
Mansa paloma, 1996
Llueve cada domingo, 1997