ERNESTO LECUONA - was a Cuban composer. Born in Guanabacoa, Cuba on Aug 7, 1896 into a musical family. He played the piano from an early age and wrote his first song when he was 11. He studied the piano with Carlo Alfredo Peyrellade, Saavedra and Hubert de Blanck.
He graduated from the National Conservatory in Havana in 1913, receiving first prize and a gold medal, and soon made his first appearance as a composer–pianist. He made several tours of Latin America, Europe and the United States as the leader of a dance band, Lecuona’s Cuban Boys, which became quite well known.
