The Cuban Cultural Center of New York announced the death of the prestigious Cuban pianist, Ivette Hernández, at the age of 87.
The internationally known classical pianist was born in Guantánamo, and at just 11 years old she performed with the Havana Philharmonic Orchestra, interpreting Mendelssohn’s Capriccio Brilliant, under the direction of the Austrian Erich Kleiber.
This performance would grant her a scholarship from the Sociedad Pro-Arte Musical that led her to New York in 1947.
The artist came to play with many of the greatest pianists in the world, such as Claudio Arrau, Tomás Andrade de Silva, Arthur Rubinstein, Sophie Feuerman, among others. He studied with Marcel Ciampi, in Paris, at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique.
In 1950, the British pianist Harriet Cohen awarded him one of the three medals to the outstanding young women of the year.
After receiving several awards, he returned to Cuba to give several notable concerts. After the triumph of communism in Cuba, Ivette and her husband, Armando Flores Ibarra, who had been the Cuban ambassador to Czechoslovakia between 1963 and 1965, decided to settle in Spain.
After three years in Spain, the pianist and her family move to the United States, where he continues his artistic life and advising students.
After a life full of successes in the musical world, passes away on Wednesday, May 26 In New York. She is survived by her two children and her two grandchildren.
Family members indicated that a funeral mass will be held on Saturday, June 5 at 10:30 a.m., at St. Margaret of Cortona Church, 6000 Riverdale Ave., Bronx, NY 10471.
– .
