Origin Havana, Cuba Name Armando Ruidiaz Record label EGREM | Instruments Guitar, bagpipe Role Composer | |
Occupation(s) Composer, instrumentalist, professor Labels EGREM, C. Alan Publications Website armandorodriguez.instanencore.com Similar People Roberto Valera, Susana Seivane, Carlos Nunez Munoz | ||
Armando Rodriguez Ruidiaz - Composer
Armando Rodriguez Ruidiaz (born 1951) is a Cuban composer, guitarist, professor and bagpiper.
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Early life and studies
Armando Rodriguez Ruidiaz was born in Havana, Cuba, in 1951. He studied musical composition with Jose Ardevol and Roberto Valera at the National School of Arts and the Instituto Superior de Arte in Havana.
He also studied classical guitar with renowned professors Marta Cuervo and Isaac Nicola at the National School of Arts. Most recently, Rodriguez has studied the Galician bagpipe.
As a professor
After graduating in 1972, Rodriguez served as professor of guitar at the Esteban Salas Conservatory in Santiago de Cuba. In 1975 he was designated as professor of guitar and music theory at the National School of Arts, in Havana, where he served until 1980.
As a composer
The music of Rodriguez was performed in his native Cuba by numerous performers and ensembles that included the National Symphony Orchestra of Cuba and the Cuban National Ballet.
In 1985, Rodriguez established his residence in the US and since then his compositions have been performed by renowned individual artists and ensembles of critical acclaim such as the Philadelphia-based Relache Ensemble, saxophonist Miguel Villafruela, double bassist Luis Gomez-Imbert, pianists Roberto Urbay, Max Lifchitz and Beatriz Balzi, as well as guitarists Flores Chaviano and Carlos Molina, in events as the Bang on a Can Festival in New York City, Las Primeras Jornadas de Musica Contemporanea de Sevilla, Spain, the Sao Paulo Biennial in Brasil, the Latinamerican and Caribbean Music Forums and the Subtropics Festival in Miami, Florida.
He has collaborated with visual artist Kate Rawlinson and with composer Gustavo Matamoros, with whom he co-founded the PUNTO Experimental Music Ensemble.
His work has been published by EGREM (Havana, Cuba) and C. Alan Publications (NC, USA); it has also been broadcast in the USA, Canada, Europe and Latin America.
As a bagpiper
Armando Rodriguez has conducted extensive research on the Galician and Asturian music and their points of contact with Cuban music. The results of those researches have been published in articles such as: “Presencia de la Gaita en Cuba.” Rodriguez has also studied the history and technique of the bagpipes.
As a bagpipes specialist, he was invited to give a lecture on the history of this ancient instrument at the University of Miami in 2006.
Awards
Rodriguez received a National Union of Writers and Artists of Cuba (UNEAC) Music Composition Award in 1978. He also received an Individual Artist Fellowship Award from the State of Florida in 1991.
Selected works
Rodriguez's works include: