María Elena Mendiola

She comes from a family of professionals not dedicated to music. She began her studies at age 8 at the Amadeo Roldán conservatory in 1963. She was a student of the piano department in the class of Professor César López, completing her intermediate level studies in 1975.

She entered the Superior Institute of Art in the orchestral conducting program in 1977, in the class of professors Gonzalo Romeu and Guennadi Dmitriac. She began her conducting work in 1980 as a guest conductor of the symphony orchestras of Matanzas, Santiago de Cuba, and Camagüey. She completed her studies in 1982.

She worked for 15 years at the National School of Art, where she was head of the department of Chamber Music and orchestral practice. She conducted national tours, radio and television presentations with the symphony and chamber orchestra of this institution, as well as numerous performances in important theaters in the capital.

She made her debut as guest conductor of the OSN in 1985. She has conducted tours throughout Central America and Colombia. She has conducted significant performances with the OSN such as the "Quiéreme Mucho" gala with singer Omara Portuondo, as well as the presentation of the Cuban Zarzuela Cecilia Valdés at the gala offered to the heads of state and government attending the IX Iberoamerican Summit, La Habana, 1999.

On several occasions she has directed the musical direction of gala performances for the celebration of National Culture Day (October 20, 1986 and 1987), as well as the gala offered on the occasion of the First Meeting of Ministers of Culture of Latin America, which took place in the Cuban capital in 1991.

Since 1988 she has worked as a music producer at the EGREM recording company, for which she has produced numerous recordings that have achieved various nominations and awards, including the Grand Prize of CUBADISCO 2001 for the Anthology La Obra Guitarrística de Leo Brouwer, in 8 volumes, and subsequently, awards in the Compilation and Symphonic Music categories for A todo Piano and Clásicos Cubanos, vol II and III, in the 2003 CUBADISCO edition.

She currently works at the National Center for Concert Music and as a professor and head of the orchestral conducting department of the ISA. While continuing her work as a music producer for EGREM. She is also an editor of specialized music publications, such as the magazines Clave, Salsa Cubana, Tropicana Internacional, and Pulse Latino.

She has been a juror at various events, frequently directs the artistic direction of festivals, such as the AIRES AMERICANOS guitar festival (biennial in nature) and the National Chamber Music Festival. In 2002 she created a collection within the EGREM catalog: the PARNASO collection, which she directs, intended to preserve the highest heritage of the works of Cuban composers and performers of concert music, with a focus on rescuing historical recordings and those of high patrimonial value within Cuban culture. Among the most recent titles added to this catalog are Antología Selecta de Leo Brouwer, in three volumes; Líricos Cubanos, vol I and II; Special Award at CUBADISCO 2004 and Gold Album, Jorge Luis Prats, award in the concertante soloist category in the 2005 edition.

In her work as a symphonic conductor, she has accompanied important Cuban soloists, including: Joaquín Clerch, Jorge Luis Zamora, Ileana Bautista, Evelio Tieles, Ernán López-Nussa, Omara Portuondo, Alfredo Muñoz, María Victoria del Collado and María Felicia Pérez and the Exaudi choir. She has also conducted world premieres of works by Spanish and Cuban composers.

Since 1990 she has been a member of UNEAC.

She is a guest conductor of the National Lyric Theater of Cuba, a company with which she has performed works by Mozart and Puccini.

Upon reaching age 50, she was honored with a tribute concert offered by the National Concert Center which took place at the Basílica de San Francisco de Asís.

In December 2004, she was decorated with the medal Distinction for National Culture, awarded by the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Cuba, in an official ceremony in which important figures in the Cuban musical field were decorated. In December 2007 she was decorated with the Order of Pedagogical Merit awarded by the Minister of Culture.

She has also performed with the chamber orchestra Solistas de La Habana, (of which she is currently the principal conductor) on several occasions, highlighting her performance at the III Esteban Salas Baroque Music Festival, organized by the office of the city's historian, held in February 2005, the closing concert of the VII National Chamber Music Festival, in January 2006, and the concert in tribute to Alicia Alonso on the occasion of the 60th Anniversary of the National Ballet of Cuba in October 2008.

She was appointed by the Cuban Institute of Music, general coordinator of the Program for the Development of Symphonic Music, conducting the technical direction during the four editions already held of the National Meeting of Symphonic Orchestras (2004 to 2007) also serving as orchestra conductor at the closing galas of the III and IV Meeting. She also performs an active role as guest conductor of all the symphonic ensembles in the country.

In her role as music critic, she has written numerous album notes for records that have obtained important awards, as in the case of those written for recordings by Chucho Valdés, including: Canciones inéditas (Latin Grammy Award, 2002) and Cancionero cubano with which she won the Cubadisco Prize 2006, in the album notes category.

In 2007 she created a space on national television especially dedicated to concert music: Puedo Pasar? of which she is the scriptwriter and host, emphasizing the most relevant figures of this genre, both from the national and international spheres.

Her album Clásicos cubanos del siglo XIX (CD-DVD) with unpublished works by Cuban composers from the 19th century such as I. Cervantes and José White, which she created for Producciones Colibrí, won two CUBADISCO 2009 awards, in the concert music and making of categories respectively.