| Zenaida Manfugas | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Zenaida Gonzáles Manfugas |
| Born | 1932 Guantanamo, Cuba |
| Occupations | pianist |
| Years active | 1949–present |
Zenaida Manfugas (born 1932) is a Cuban American pianist. She is considered one of the best pianists of Cuba.
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Zenaida González Manfugas was born in 1932 [1] in Guantanamo, Cuba, but his family moved to Baracoa, where his father, Amando González Veranés, was appointed municipal judge and his mother opened a music school affiliated with the Conservatorio Orbón. She was one of the best pianists of Cuba and when Manfugas and her sisters meet the five years, her mother began to teaching piano to them. When she had seven years, she played "Coronation Mass" of Mozart, and "First Concert" of Beethoven. But she did not debut until 1949 in Havana, in the Anfiteatro de Avenida del Puerto, and with the Municipal Band, conducted by master Gonzalo Roig,[1] [2] playing "Concerto in A Minor" by Edvard Grieg. She alwais playing there. She waited three years for a scholarship to study in Spain. The journalist Agustín Tamargo caught the attention of the rector of the College of Bethlehem, Father Joseph Rubino, to give him her scholarship in Spain. Roig then invited to give a concert in Cathedral Square, where 100 chairs placed. [2]She left Cuba at 52 and enrolled at the Real Conservatorio Superior de Música de Madrid (Royal Conservatory of Music in Madrid). When she returned in 1958, was finally able to play at the Auditorium. [2][1] In Cuba, she developed a significant activity as a pianist, and sometimes accompanied the classical orchestras as the National Symphony Orchestra and National Chamber Orchestra. Also was widely praised in all countries of submission, both in Europe and Asia. [3] Came to United States in 1974, invited to give concerts in 50 states, and in 1979 returned to Cuba last time. [2][1]
She has also been professor at Kean University of New Jersey, where she taught History of Music, [3] [1]and recorded several live albums without the backing of any record label, which includes some of his magnificent interpretations of Cuban composers, whose work has contributed so much to disclose.[3]
She was established in Elizabeth, New Jersey in 1974. She adopted, when she became an American citizen, the surname of his mother, who taught her to playing piano, and honor her. [2] In 1955 she had one son in Spain, Andrés Montes, who over the years he be become one of the most popular sports journalists of radio and television in Spain, died in 2009 at age 53.[3]
The musician Gonzalo Roig said that Zenaida Manfugás was the best interpreter of Cuban music, and one of the best pianists in Cuba had taken, and Lecuona himself regarded also as the best interpreter of his music, for the special talent that ran their compositions.[3]