On the morning of June 28th, the beloved maestro, violinist and pedagogue, Juan Alfredo Muñoz Fernández, passed away at the age of 74, victim of a cancer.
Havana, June 29 (RHC)-- On the morning of June 28th, the beloved maestro, violinist and pedagogue, Juan Alfredo Muñoz Fernández, passed away at the age of 74, victim of cancer.
He graduated in Music at the University of the Arts of Cuba in 1981 in the class of Professor Radosvet Boyadjiev and Master in Music Performance at the University of the Arts in 2012.
He privileged with his presence and dedication to the National Symphony Orchestra of Cuba since the early years of its founding in the 1960s; to the National Center of Concert Music, an institution he directed for more than eight years with humility and unsurpassed commitment and in which he was part of chamber ensembles of great prestige as the Trio White and the Duo Promúsica; and at the University of the Arts of Cuba, where he developed an arduous work, especially at the head of the Department of fretted strings and in the training of dozens of young people.
In Cuba, he participated in the most significant concert music competitions, especially in the Havana Music Festival, the Chamber Music Festival, the Leo Brouwer Festival and the Cubadisco International Fair, of which he was Honorary President in the 2013 edition. Likewise, Alfredo Muñoz represented Cuba in multiple international events such as Berliner Festage and Haendel Festival, Halle, Germany; in Music '85, Amsterdam, Holland; in the Janacek Festival, Ostrava, Czech Republic; in Musical Festivals of Plovdiv, Bulgaria; in the Cuban Music Festival in Quito, Ecuador. Also in the Cervantino, Morelia and Aguas Calientes Festivals in Mexico; in the Festival de Música Sacra, Quebec, Canada; in the Festival de Violín, Lima, Peru; in the Festival Arcos y Cuerdas, Medellín, Colombia and in the Ciclo Ana Ricci, Barcelona, Spain and the Festival de Música Cubana, Milan, Italy.
As a member of various chamber ensembles, he has toured the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Germany, Bulgaria, Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, France, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Holland, Angola, Qatar, Yugoslavia, Canada, Argentina, Peru, Ecuador, Colombia, Venezuela, Nicaragua, Mexico, Nassau, Guadeloupe, Grand Cayman, Aruba and Curaçao, Democratic Republic of Korea and Cuba.
On the morning of June 28th, the beloved maestro, violinist and pedagogue, Juan Alfredo Muñoz Fernández, passed away at the age of 74, victim of cancer.
Together with his inseparable companion in life and art, María Victoria del Collado, he founded the Promúsica Duo, a classical violin and piano formation, as a result of the chamber music class at the University of the Arts of Cuba, which, since 1981, has regularly performed in the country's concert halls, with the essential purpose of promoting the most important of the universal repertoire, including the most diverse aesthetic trends and the international dissemination of Cuban and Latin American music, in general.
Cuban culture had in him a tireless promoter and guardian of concert music, particularly chamber music: he was president of the Technical Artistic Council of the National Center of Concert Music, and member of the Advisory Council of the Cuban Institute of Music. As president of the Program for the Development of Chamber Music, he led this manifestation throughout the country.
His recording production includes LD Trio White Vol. I and II (EGREM); LD Contemporáneos III, Concerto for violin and orchestra by Leo Brouwer (world premiere) EGREM. In collaboration with the Exaudi Chamber Choir, the CDs Esteban Salas Vol. I, II and III from Milán Records and Música del Alto Perú y Bolivia Vol. I and II from Warner Records.
As Promúsica Duo they presented the CDs Homenaje, music by Harold Gramatges, (Bis Music); Miradas Furtivas, with Sello Unicornio and Leyendas, by Producciones Colibrí. In collaboration with the Orquesta Sinfónica Nacional de Cuba, the CDs Misa Cubana and Salmo de las Américas, by José María Vitier (Numadil) and Amadeo Roldán. More recently, the CD Sonata Quasi una Fantasía (2014) and CD Órficas, vol. I and II, music by Juan Piñera.He was a member of the jury of national and international competitions and taught violin master classes at the Music Academy of Querétaro, Mexico; at the National Conservatory of Lima, Peru; at the International Violin Academy of Caracas, Venezuela; at the National Conservatory of Quito, Ecuador and at the University of Medellin and the Conservatory of Bogota, in Colombia. Likewise, in centers of artistic education in Camagüey, Holguín and Santiago de Cuba; in the National School of Music; in the Manuel Saumell School and in the Amadeo Roldán Conservatory.
Throughout his career he received among other awards: The Order of Merit for Polish Culture; the Alejo Carpentier Medal; the Pepito Tey and Frank País medals; the Distinctions for National Culture and for Cuban Education; as well as the Diploma for Pedagogical Merit, tokens of his commitment and loyalty to the nation and its culture. Until the date of his death, he was a member of the Union of Writers and Artists of Cuba.
