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From Havana with love
A young Cuban pianist gets by with a little help from his friends

by Marge Speidel 



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Palo Alto Online
Publication Date: Friday, May 24, 2002


From Havana with love
A young Cuban pianist gets by with a little help from his friends

by Marge Speidel

Bill Armstrong, a longtime Palo Alto musician and teacher, is dusting off his 9-foot Steinway grand piano, gearing up for one of the many home concerts he has hosted in the past 30 years.

His latest headliner is Javier Gonzalez Quintana, an acclaimed 24-year-old classical pianist from Cuba, who will perform on Wednesday at Armstrong's South Palo Alto home.

It's hard to imagine a young musician who has gathered more rave comments than Quintana has since his arrival in the Bay Area a few weeks ago. Armstrong calls his playing "astounding," and others agree. If he is a success, a bunch of local people will have helped.

His primary benefactor is Mary Morgan of Atherton, who gets credit for bringing him to the United States. Morgan, an Arkansas native, is the wife of the late Dr. Benjamin Spock, renowned pediatrician and author of baby-rearing books. The couple was married for 25 years, until his death in March 1998.

Morgan first met Quintana in February, when she was asked to bring a group of physicians (people working in nutrition and AIDS and cancer research) and medical supplies to Havana. The day after they got there, Morgan wanted to go to the beach for a swim. But the weather turned cold and rainy, so their local host suggested going to a concert instead.

"I was disappointed," Morgan recalled. "But when Javier came out to play, you could hear a pin drop," she recalled. "Even though I had a bad foot and was in a wheelchair, I was first up for the standing ovation."

A mutual friend later gave a dinner party for her and invited Quintana. Morgan was entranced.

When she returned to Menlo Park, an urgent message awaited her from the young Cuban. He had been accepted to play at the Missouri Southern International Piano competition, but his visa had not yet come through by the March 1 deadline.

"Please, can you help?" Quintana e-mailed Morgan.

With a combination of string-pulling and sheer insistence, Morgan got him the visa. In Joplin, Mo., Quintana competed with pianists from all over the world of various ages and did well, although he did not win the competition.

Erna Gulabyan, a music teacher and faculty member at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, was on the panel of judges in Missouri.

"He is very gifted, and has wonderful potential because he has the music inside him, a very important quality," she said recently. "Thousands of students can play as well as he as far as technique, but there is something special in the way he feels the music. Someone as talented as he must choose wisely the teacher with whom he will study."

Gulabyan and Marta Cuabra Gonzalez, a Los Gatos musician and teacher, got Quintana an appointment at the San Francisco Conservatory, which was already deep into the process of considering candidates for next year. Still, staff members listened to a brief piano recital.

"When he started to play, sparks were flying all over the place," recalled Mack McCray, a member of the conservatory's piano faculty. "He played a Haydn sonata with great poetry and delicacy, and then stormed his way fearlessly and brilliantly through a Liszt Hungarian Rhapsody. This was exciting playing, important playing. Javier has a huge potential."

Quintana was accepted in early May without an official audition.

Quintana has been playing since he was 7 years old. After studying at a junior conservatory in Havana, he progressed to the advanced Amadeo Roldan Conservatory. In July, he will receive his bachelor's degree in music from the Havana's Higher Institute of Arts.

In February, Quintana recorded a compact disc with the National Symphonic Orchestra of Cuba. Numerous awards have come his way for his fine interpretation of Cuban composers, including Ernest Lecuona ("Malaguena").

On his recent visit here, Quintana needed a piano for practice. Enter Greg Wurm, who operates Peninsula Piano Brokers in Palo Alto. Morgan rented a small Steinway for Javier's use. When Wurm heard him play, he immediately took him to Armstrong's home to play on the 9-foot Steinway, which led to next week's concert.

Last week, Quintana went to New York to audition at the Manhattan School of Music at Columbia University. He was accepted there, too, and will have a choice of two schools.

Morgan feels her efforts are deeply aligned with the late Dr. Spock's philosophy, noting his strong feeling for Cuba and the Cuban people. To that end, the Dr. Spock Foundation, a nonprofit organization, has been created to support Quintana's education.

"When I first knew Ben, he showed me the only picture he carried in his wallet, that of a child on the beach with him in Cuba. The boy is looking up at Dr. Spock and Ben is making a sand castle with him.

"It was that connection that brought my heart really alive and opened it up. We returned to Cuba many, many times together. We never saw that child again, but he was born the same year as Javier, 1977, so who knows?"
Who: Pianist Javier Gonzalez Quintana

Where: 363 Whitclem Place, Palo Alto

When: Wednesday at 8 p.m.

Cost: A $20 donation for the artist is requested

Info: Call (650) 493-2775


 Original page at http://www.paloaltoonline.com/weekly/morgue/2002/2002_05_24.cuban24.html
  

Posted: Fri - May 24, 2002 at 04:33 AM          

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