Alfredo Diez Nieto

Alfredo Diez Nieto (25 October 1918 – 23 October 2021) was a Cuban composer, conductor, and professor. He taught composition at Instituto Musical Kohly, the Amadeo Roldán Conservatory, the National Art School, and the Instituto Superior de Arte in Havana. He founded and conducted the Orquesta Popular de Conciertos. Diez Nieto composed orchestral works including three symphonies and chamber music for various instruments, using and transforming elements from Cuban folk music.

Life and career Alfredo Diez Nieto was born in Havana (La Habana), Cuba, on 25 October 1918. He enrolled at the Conservatorio Iranzo in Havana and studied composition, counterpoint, fugue, music history, music theory, orchestration, piano, and pedagogy with professors Rosario Iranzo, Jaime Prats, Juana Prendes, Amadeo Roldán, and Pedro Sanjuán. He completed his education at the Juilliard School of Music in New York, where he studied composition with Bernard Wagenaar, orchestral conducting with Fritz Mahler and piano with Eduard Steuermann. he taught composition, counterpoint and fugue, harmony, music history, orchestration, and piano at the Instituto Musical Kohly, the Amadeo Roldán Conservatory, the National Art School, and the Instituto Superior de Arte in Havana. At the time of his death, he was the oldest active composer in Cuba. Other important works include his Piano Sonata, Sudor y látigo (Sweat and Whip), and the Quintet for String Orchestra.