Ernesto Lecuano Casado, son of a Cuban mother and a father from the Canary Islands, was one of the most important composers and musicians in Cuba. He learned to play the piano from his sister and was already performing as a pianist at the age of five. Lecuano Casado studied piano, instrumentation and orchestral conducting in Havana. He composed his first piece at the age of 13. After his studies, he founded the Palau Brothers Cuban Orchestra, later renamed the Lecuona Cuban Boys, with which he successfully toured the USA and Europe. He was often referred to as the “Gershwin” of Cuba. In 1960 he emigrated to New York. Some of his pieces became very well-known Latin American songs and dances. At the 1932 Olympics he was entered under the alias “Lenva”.
Cuba