LEONEL MORALES
International Soloist and Piano Professor
Professor at the Sommerakademie in Salzburg, Universidad Alfonso X el Sabio, and the Escuela Superior de Música Forum Musikae. Exclusive Artist of Yangtze River Piano (China), Artistic Director and Founder of the María Herrero International Piano Competition (Granada), and the International Piano Composers Competition of Spain (member of the WFIMC) in Madrid, as well as the Granada Music Festival “Leonel Morales and Friends”. Since 2024, exclusive representative of the prestigious German piano brand Grotian-Steinweg in Spain.
Leonel Morales has been an exclusive artist of the concert agency MUSIESPAÑA for over 25 years and is also a member of the Academy of Fine Arts of Santa Isabel de Hungría.
Born in Cuba, he is a naturalized Spanish citizen and has been a resident since 1991. He studied at the University of Havana under the guidance of maestro Frank Fernández, a student of Víctor Merzhanov, thus his education follows the deepest roots of the great and traditional Russian school. He also studied in Weimar with maestro Jacov Latainer and worked with Mihail Voskresensky during his time in Cuba as a selected student. He served as an assistant for two years at the Sommerakademie in Salzburg in the class of the late great maestro Aquiles Delle Vigne.
Leonel Morales arrived in Spain at the age of 25 and between the ages of 26 and 28, he won first prizes in several international competitions such as the Guerrero Foundation International Piano Competition, Citat de Manresa, Teresa Carreño, Jaén International Piano Competition, along with special prizes for Best Interpretation of Contemporary Music and the “Rosa Sabater” Award for Best Interpretation of Spanish Music, Second Prize in the Santa Cecilia International Piano Competition, Oporto, Prize with Distinction in the Aosta International Piano Competition, Sommerakademie Prize from the Mozarteum in Salzburg, William Kapell, etc.
At the age of 28, he stopped competing as his career was fully consolidated, performing with all the major orchestras in Spain, attracting attention with his tour featuring the complete piano and orchestra concertos by Rachmaninoff, including the Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini…
PHOTOS
VIDEOS
Gaspard de la Nuit – Ravel
Sonata op. 53 “Waldstein” – Beethoven
Interview about Rachmaninov – Festival PianoEchos (Italy)
Spanish Rhapsody – Liszt
To see more videos…
TEACHING
He is a professor at the University of Music and Performing Arts “Alfonso X El Sabio” Forum Musikae Higher School of Music, and in the Sommerakademie in the Mozarteum University of Salzburg. He worked as “Professor in residence” in several American, Chinese and European universities. Today he has been recognized as one of the most prestigious professors in the world, and has been invited to numerous music courses and master classes.
After his arrival in Spain, Leonel Morales was an interim professor at the Superior Conservatory of Music in Castellón “Salvador Seguí”, where he was able to create an excellent class for 15 years. Their students won more than 50 international awards every year . That is why his pedagogical recognition has achieved international fame.
ARTISTIC DIRECTION
Artistic Director of Courses, Festivals and International Competitions. Among the competitions are the Spanish Composers International Piano Competition in Madrid and the Maria Herrero International Piano Competition in Granada. As for the courses and the festivals, there are the Leonel Morales & Friends – Masterclass and Music Festival and the International Children’s and Teenagers Piano Course, both held in Granada.
DISCOGRAPHY
Album Regio Vicente Díaz de Comas
Integral for Piano of Antón García Abril
Concert for Piano and Orchestra of Antón García Abril
Brief Concert for piano and Orchestra by Xavier Montsalvatge
Concert nº 3 and Rhapsody on a theme by Paganini of Rachmaninoff
