Year:
2018
Fidel Leal was born in Cuba, where he started studying piano at the age of seven. He received his Bachelor of Arts summa cum laude in 2013 from the Higher Institute of Arts in Havana where he studied with pianist and composer Ulises Hernández. Leal debuted with the National Symphony Orchestra of Cuba in 2006. Since then he has performed with Cuba’s most important symphonic and chamber orchestras, such as the Eastern Symphony Orchestra, Matanzas Symphony Orchestra, Camerata Romeu, and the Symphony Orchestra of the Lyceum Mozartiano de La Habana. He has also concertized in Costa Rica, Switzerland and France. Leal holds several prizes in national and international competitions, including first prizes in the IV Iberoamerican Piano Competition in Havana and the Musicalia 2011 International Piano Competition. Other top prizes have been earned at the IV Maria Clara Cullell Competition in Costa Rica, National Artists and Writers Competition and Ignacio Cervantes International Competition in Havana, and Jose Jacinto Cuevas International Competition in Mexico. Leal has won scholarships to participate in the Semaine Internationale de Piano de Blonay, Switzerland and the Academie Musicale de Villecroze, France. In addition, Leal has recorded for the Cuban label Colibrí and in 2014 his CD Cuatro por uno won the Concert Soloist Prize at the Cubadisco International Festival.