Paquito D'Rivera Receives Prestigious Leonard Bernstein Award

April 27, 2023

Cuban clarinetist and saxophonist Paquito D'Rivera received the prestigious Leonard Bernstein Award during a gala at the Longy Conservatory in Boston.

While sharing the news this Tuesday on his social networks, D'Rivera said he felt proud of the recognition, presented by Jamie Bernstein, son of American composer, pianist and orchestra conductor Leonard Bernstein.

Regarding the Longy Conservatory, he highlighted that it is "an institution with the noble mission of centering music as goals for social change.

"This award becomes even more important for a person like me, whose name and music have been systematically banned from Cuban official media, as well as in the music school system, in a country where musicians like Maykel Osorbo and many other artists are beaten, repressed and imprisoned simply for singing songs not authorized by cultural authorities," expressed the musician, winner of several Grammy awards.

For its part, the Longy Conservatory said about the awards night: "We are still euphoric from the incredible Gala Benefit Concert on Wednesday: Paquito D'Rivera, his incredible band which includes former Longy student Juan F. Ruiz and a cameo by Sandra Piques Eddy, presented by president Karen Zorn, not to mention the honor to Paquito with the Leonard Bernstein award, presented by Jamie Bernstein, it was a magical evening for everyone!".

Paquito D'Rivera was founder of the renowned Cuban group Irakere, in 1967. Along with Irakere he performed internationally, achieving great recognition at the Newport and Montreux jazz festivals.

However, the Castro regime began to put obstacles in his way, alleging that his music had North American influences.

Tired of this situation and desiring to develop freely, in 1981, during a trip to Spain with the Irakere group, he requested asylum at the United States Embassy in the European country.

Very shortly after arriving in the United States he gained recognition in the jazz world and recorded his first album with the collaboration of great artists such as David Amram, Mario Bauzá, Bruce Lundvall and Dizzy Gillespie; with the latter he founded the United Nations Orchestra in 1988.

His musical production includes more than 30 solo albums and he has performed with orchestras from numerous countries.