MARIA LILIA CANO
EDUCATION:
BMus - Liceu Conservatory, Barcelona (SPAIN)
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LANGUAGES: Spanish, English, Catalan
Maria Lilia Cano is a Cuban pianist and a committed music and piano pedagogue. She serves as a piano and music theory faculty at the School and Pedagogical Research Center for musical learning "Musicactiva Mètode Creatiu” in Barcelona, Spain, where she has been part of the methodological team since 2004. The method prioritizes musical learning by creating music and experiencing the purpose of each operation from the very beginning. The teaching approach of the School is fully active, and the teachers are required to engage in a constant updating of their methods and resources.
As a concert performer, she remains very active with various projects as a soloist, in chamber music ensembles, musical theatre proposals, as well as a composer for television and cinema. She has given recitals in Cuba and Europe, mainly in Spain and France, receiving outstanding reviews in magazines such as Revista Musical Catalana, 440 Clàssica, Association of Master Directors, Barcelona Classic, among others. Her repertoire has focused on Cuban concert music and also to promote, through research and investigation, the cultural and musical links with Catalan music.
In 2015 she composed original music for “Els que es quedaren”, a documentary produced by filmsnomadas, co-produced by the Catalan Television and directed by Vanessa Batista. The soundtrack was nominated, among other categories, for Best Original Soundtrack at the Nice International Film Festival South of France.
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In 2015, she released her first recording as a soloist, dedicated exclusively to Cuban dance music for piano. Recorded at Pau Casals Auditorium, the CD includes works by composers such as Ignacio Cervantes, Ernesto Lecuona and José María Vitier. In 2018, she released her second CD, “Under the Blades” recorded by Beltempo Records. It contains works of C. Debussy, W. A. Mozart, J. S. Bach, A. Ginastera, D. Shostakovich, J. Nin Culmell, I. Cervantes, and Ernán López-Nussa. In 2019, the album was nominated among the 10 best recordings in the Classical Music Category by ENDERROCK magazine.
In January 2019 she launched the Ultramar Trio with Yadira Ferrer (voice) and Mariona Casanovas (violin), an ensemble devoted mainly to Cuban and Mediterranean music. In September of the same year, she created part of the original soundtrack of the Foodie Love series directed by the acclaimed Spanish director Isabel Coixet, for the HBO Spain network.
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In 2020, equipped with her valuable teaching experience, Maria Lilia Cano has joined New York City Piano Academy as piano faculty, to work on the Online Program for Latin Music and Modern Music studies.