Cuban Pianist David Virelles Receives One of the Guggenheim Fellowships

April 19, 2025

Cuban pianist and composer David Virelles won one of the Guggenheim Fellowships, as announced yesterday by the New York-based Foundation.

Virelles, 41 years old and originally from Santiago de Cuba, deserved this grant and award for artistic creation in Musical Composition, where the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation awarded 14 fellowships.

It is one of "the most important due to the high level of rigor it demands of its candidates," according to music history specialist Rosa Marquetti, who describes Virelles as "one of our most talented pianists and composers."

"At a time when intellectual life is under attack, the Guggenheim Fellowship celebrates a century of support for the life and work of visionary scientists, academics, writers and artists," declared Edward Hirsch, poet and president of the Foundation, as can be read on its website.

The Guggenheim Foundation offers fellowships to exceptional individuals who wish to pursue studies in any field of knowledge and creation in any form of art, under the freest possible conditions.

10 Albums and Critical Acclaim
In 2001, David Virelles settled in Toronto. At Humber College he studied and later taught. But since 2009 he has lived in New York.

His work is supported by more than 10 albums. His album Continuum, from 2012, appeared on numerous lists highlighting the Best of the Year, reaching number 1 on The New York Times, according to information from the musician on his own website.

He released three projects with the legendary ECM label, with great critical success, which document a wide artistic range: Mbókó (2014), Antenna (2016), and Gnosis (2017).

A year later he presented Igbó Alákorin, "a celebration of the musical history of Santiago de Cuba." The album, as noted on his website, features legends of Santiago music and was recorded at the Siboney EGREM studios. It was named Best Latin Jazz Album by NPR in 2018.

In 2020, Virelles released Transformación del Arcoiris, an electronic EP exclusive to the BandCamp platform. In 2022, NUNA arrived, where he explores solo piano music. It was named one of the best albums of the year by various publications, including The New York Times and NPR; additionally, it won the Aaron Copland Award in 2021.

Last year, the pianist gave a special performance at the current Palacio Libertad Centro Cultural Domingo Faustino Sarmiento, then still known as CCK (Centro Cultural Kirchner). The concert, atmospheric in tone, produced great admiration among attendees.

David Virelles, a Lucky Musician

That institution recalled at the time that since his arrival in New York, Virelles became a regular collaborator of prominent figures on the international scene, such as George Coleman, Chris Potter, Mark Turner, Andrew Cyrille, Ravi Coltrane, Tomasz Stanko, Wadada Leo Smith, Paul Motian, Bill Frisell, Tom Harrell, and Milford Graves, among others.

In total, this year 198 creators working in 53 disciplines were distinguished with the Guggenheim Fellowship. The winners surpassed "a rigorous application and peer review process from a group of nearly 3500 applicants."

Regarding the Guggenheim Fellowship, Hirsch said yesterday: "We believe that these creative thinkers can face the challenges we all face today and guide our society toward a better and more hopeful future."