Armando Rodriguez Ruidiaz

Armando Rodríguez Ruidíaz (born 1951) is a Cuban composer, guitarist, professor and bagpiper.

Early life and studies

Armando Rodríguez Ruidíaz was born in Havana, Cuba, in 1951. He studied musical composition with José Ardévol 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, Rodríguez has studied the Galician bagpipe.

As a professor

After graduating in 1972, Rodríguez 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 Rodríguez 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, Rodríguez 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 Relâche Ensemble, saxophonist Miguel Villafruela, double bassist Luis Gómez-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 Música Contemporánea de Sevilla, Spain, the São 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 Rodríguez 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.” Rodríguez 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.

Rodríguez 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.

Rodriguez's works include:

• Sonatina – Piano - 1972
• Music for young guitarists (Música para jóvenes guitarristas)– Collection of didactical pieces for guitar – 1973
• 'Intentos I and II – Guitar – 1974
• Variations on a theme by Leo Brouwer (Variaciones sobre un tema de Leo Brouwer) – Piano – 1975
• Proyecto V – Piano with two performers - 1976
• Esquisse (Boceto) – Alto saxophone and Piano – 1977
• Two Poems (Dos Poemas) – Voice and Piano - 1977
• Prelude and Fugue – Vibraphone - 1977
• Timbre-Space-Time (Timbre-Espacio-Tiempo) – Vibraphone - 1977
• Ciclos – Violin and Orchestra - 1977
• On a Theme by Víctor Jara (Sobre un tema de Víctor Jara) – Guitar - 1978
• Interaction (Interacción)– Percussion - 1978
• Expressions (Expresiones)– Alto saxophone solo - 1979
• In Memoriam Chales E. Ives – Piano - 1979
• Logos – Guitar - 1984
• Linear – Open Instrumentation – 1990
• Triangular – Open Instrumentation – 1990
• Occupied Space – Guitar and Tape – 1990
• Overlapping Textures – Guitar ensemble - 1990
• Terra Incognita – Installation project in collaboration with artist Kate Rawlinson – Opus Art Studios – 1990
• Mobile Textures – Guitar - 1991
• The Hexagonal Galleries – For three performers and electroacoustics - 1992
• A Quiet World – Voice and Tape – 1992
• From Darkness to Light – Double bass and Tape – 1992
• A storm was coming over the quiet pond – Piano and Tape - 1995
• José Martí in the Qarries of San Lázaro – Piano and Voice - 1995
• Threshold – Choir - 1997
• The long road to Santiago (El Largo Camino a Santiago) – Galician bagpipe and Tape - 1998
• Intersections (Intersecciones)– Electroacoustic Media - 2004
• Morphing Textures (Texturas metamórficas) - Electroacoustic Media - 2004
• Radiance – Tape and Video – 2004