Arturo Sandoval(I)
- Music Department
- Composer
- Actor
A musician of epic proportions, Arturo Sandoval is the protege of Jazz
trumpeter and one of Latin Jazz's musical founders, Dizzy Gillespie. A master
of the trumpet and flugelhorn, Sandoval began studying classical
trumpet at age 12, and has been recording for over 30 years. He has won
four Grammy Awards and been nominated for 12 Grammys in several
categories including the 1978 Grammy for Best Latin album with the
group "Irakere" (a Yoruba word for "forest") that he co-founded with
Afro-Cuban piano virtuoso Chucho Valdés. In 1995 he was commissioned by the
Kennedy Center to compose the music for the Debbie Allen ballet "Pepito's
Story". In 1999 he composed songs for the musical "Soul Possessed",
marking his second outing with Debbie Allen who wrote and choreographed the
production. He has performed with the BBC Symphony in London, the
Leningrad Symphony in Russia, the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra in
Atlanta, Georgia, USA, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, and with Dizzy
Gillespie's United Nations Orchestra. His resume includes over eight
albums as a Jazz soloist and one as a classical soloist. Additionally,
he serves as a full professor of music at Florida International
University where he established "The Dizzy Gillespie Trumpet
Scholarship" in honor of his mentor and longtime friend. After having
recorded with artists as diverse as Frank Sinatra, Gloria Estefan, Jon Secada and
others, the musical treasure from Cuba and longtime US resident was
finally granted US Citizenship in 1999. Que Viva Arturo!
