Roberto Urbay | |
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| Background information | |
| Born | 8 August 1953 Havana, Cuba |
| Genres | Classical music |
| Occupation(s) | Classical pianist |
| Years active | 1973–present |
| Labels | EGREM, Colibrí, Magic Music |
Roberto Urbay (born August 8, 1953 in Havana) is a Cuban concert pianist and piano professor.
Roberto Urbay studied at Escuela Nacional de Arte in Havana, Cuba where he was instructed by Margot Rojas Mendoza and Silvio Rodríguez Cárdenas. He was awarded a scholarship to study at the Tchaikovsky Conservatory in Moscow. There, he studied with Evgeny Mogilevsky and got the diploma of Master of Fine Arts with a specialization as Concert Pianist and Piano Professor in 1983. He was also awarded grants to make postgraduate courses in Hungary on Liszt and Bartók's work in 1986 and 1987 under the guidance of such illustrious pianists as Georges Cziffra and Zoltan Kocsis. [1]
Roberto Urbay was awarded the UNEAC Prize - Unión Nacional de Escritores y Artistas de Cuba - in 1973, as well as the Special Prize in Chamber Music at the Grandstand for Young Interpreters at the Interpodium Festival in Bratislava (1977). He also participated in three famous International Competitions: Queen Elizabeth, in Brussels (1978), Van Cliburn, in Texas (1981) and Liszt, in Budapest (1986). [2]
His interpreting art has been appreciated in Belgium, Russia, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Italy, Spain, Albania, Germany, Hungary, Kazajstan, Korea, Japan, the USA, Colombia, Dominican Republic, Chile, Bolivia, Argentina, and Cuba, where he has interpreted an extensive and well varied repertory in solo concerts, chamber music and concerts with orchestra, in festivals, competitions and international tours. [3]
With over 40 years of teaching the art of the piano, he has been professor at prestigious musical institutions, such as the Instituto Superior de Arte in Havana and at the Music Department that belongs to the Universidad Nacional de Cuyo, in Mendoza, Argentina, where he is a full professor since 1995. [4] His students have won more than 50 prizes in diverse piano competitions in many countries. He has been President and Member of the Jury in contests and competitions. Besides he has given improvement courses on Mozart and Liszt's work, Latin-American Music, The Piano in the Romantic Period. He has also lectured Master Classes, Seminars and Conferences.
He has recorded for the discographic labels of Magic Music, Egrem and Colibrí. Many of his recordings, in CD as well as in DVD, have been prize-winning in the Feria Discográfica Internacional, "Cubadisco", such as: Harold Gramatges' Complete works for Piano (1999); Heitor Villa-Lobos' Five Piano Concertos (2007), in which Urbay interpreted the Concierto Nº 5; and Mozart in Havana, with 4 sonatas for Piano (2008), recordings that have awarded a prize under the categories of Great Prize and Solo Player.
Orquesta Aragón is a Cuban musical band formed on 30 September 1939, by Orestes Aragón Cantero in Cienfuegos, Cuba. The band originally had the name Ritmica 39, then Ritmica Aragón before settling on its final form. Though they did not create the Cha-cha-cha, they were arguably the best charanga in Cuba during the 1950s and 1960s. Their trade-marks included high-class instrumentalists playing in tight ensemble style, and rhythmical innovations which kept their sound up to date. Over the years they progressed from their start as a danzoneria to play a wider variety of styles, danzón, then cha-cha-cha, then onda-cha, pachanga and son fusions. They still perform today, based in Havana.
Bola de Nieve, born Ignacio Jacinto Villa Fernández, was a Cuban singer-pianist and songwriter. His name originates from his round, black face.
Los Zafiros were a Cuban close-harmony vocal group working from 1962 until 1976. The group was part of the filín (feeling) movement, inspired by American doo-wop groups such as The Platters. Their music was a fusion of Cuban genres, such as the bolero, with doo-wop, ballads, R&B, calypso, Bossa Nova and early rock and roll.
Enrique Jorrín was a Cuban charanga violinist, composer and music director. He is considered the inventor of the cha-cha-chá, a popular style of ballroom music derived from danzón.
Ignacio Piñeiro Martínez was a Cuban musician, bandleader and composer whose career started in rumba and flowered in the rise of the son. He was one of the most important composers of son music; in total he wrote about 327 numbers, mostly sones.
Moraima Secada (born María Micaela Secada Ramos, known to her admirers as La Mora, was a temperamental singer who created a special style of interpretation within the Cuban music genre of filin.
Isaac Nicola Romero was a prominent Cuban guitarist and one of the founders of the modern Cuban Guitar School. He was also brother of Clara (Cuqui) Nicola.
The Sexteto Habanero was a Cuban son sextet founded in 1920 in Havana. It played an important part in the early history of the genre, contributing to its popularization all around Cuba. In 1927, the band incorporated a cornet player becoming the Septeto Habanero. Although most original members left in the 1930s, the band has continued to perform and record with different line-ups. Their last album was released in 2010 for their 90th anniversary.
Adolfo Columbo was a leading singer in the Alhambra Theatre in Havana, and also an actor and a leading personality in the theatre. Colombo was the most recorded artist in Cuba up to 1925: records show he recorded about 350 numbers between 1906 and 1917.
Jaime Prats Estrada was a Cuban flautist, composer and orchestral director. He also played the clarinet, violin, double bass and piano. He started to study music at seven, and in 1893 went to Cienfuegos, where he continued to study music as well as taking a first degree, graduating at 17.
José Urfé González was a Cuban clarinetist and composer. An innovator of the danzón, his 1910 composition "El bombín de Barreto" pioneered the introduction of elements from son cubano into the genre.
Esther Borja Lima was a Cuban operatic soprano and actress.
Cecilia Arizti Sobrino was a Cuban composer, pianist and music educator.
Mike Porcel is an exiled Cuban born-American musician, guitarist, composer, orchestrator and songwriter better associated with the Cuban musical movement of the 60s & 70s Nueva trova. He has been called one of the most influential and creative contemporary Cuban musician of his generation. His compositions carry a heavy dose of poetry mixed with complex guitar melodies influenced by a tremendous array of musical styles, from classical music to rock, jazz, ethnic rhythms and new age. He was also the co-founder and musical director of the Cuban progressive-rock band "Síntesis".
Frank Fernández Tamayo is a Cuban pianist, teacher and composer.
The Piano Concerto No. 4, W505, is a composition for piano and orchestra by the Brazilian composer Heitor Villa-Lobos, written in 1952. A performance lasts about 27 minutes.
Piano Concerto No. 1, W453, is a composition for piano and orchestra by the Brazilian composer Heitor Villa-Lobos, written in 1945. A performance lasts about 38 minutes.
The Piano Concerto No. 5, W 521, is a piano concerto by the Brazilian composer Heitor Villa-Lobos, written in 1954. One performance recorded under the composer's baton lasts 18 minutes, 48 seconds.
The Piano Concerto No. 2, W487, is a piano concerto by the Brazilian composer Heitor Villa-Lobos, written in 1948. A performance lasts about 28 minutes.
The Piano Concerto No. 3, W512, is a composition for piano and orchestra by the Brazilian composer Heitor Villa-Lobos, written in 1952–57. A performance lasts about 26 minutes.
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