LITTLE HAVANA
Pianist, 13, leaves Cuba to follow dream
A 13-year-old Cuban boy comes to Miami with dreams of becoming a pianist.
BY CAROLINE MARIE GONZALEZ
Special to The Miami Herald
Alejandro Veiga, 13, left friends and family behind in Cuba for a dream
of becoming a pianist.
Never mind that Alejandro is still learning English.
He boarded a plane with his parents several months ago for a new life --
and music instruction -- in Miami.
He's already on his way as a freshman at The Academy of Arts and Minds
Charter High School in Coconut Grove.
``Alejandro is the finest young pianist I have been privileged to
audition,'' said Octavio Campos, head of the Performing Arts at the Academy.
He believes that Alejandro ``will become world famous'' one day.
Others are equally impressed -- with one piano teacher giving him free
lessons and a piano so he can practice at his Little Havana home.
Alejandro repays their faith with his diligence. He practices hours a
day. He also studies to do well at the Academy.
``My favorite subjects are music theory and music appreciation,'' he said.
He believes that he will learn much at his new school and he will grow
as a musician.
He started dreaming of becoming a pianist almost before he went to
school in Cuba. By age 7, he was regularly playing. A neighbor
recognized his talent and recommended that he go to a performing arts
school in Guanabacoa, Cuba.
Alejandro got into the competitive school that accepts only one out of
every 25 applicants.
In Guanabacoa, his dreams took root. He finished six years in the
performing arts school before his grandmother managed to get permission
for him and for his parents to leave Cuba, and plane tickets to Miami.
The mission: ``To give light to my lifelong dream of becoming a
pianist,'' Alejandro said.
One of his teachers in Cuba was convinced of his talent and persuaded a
friend in Miami -- retired piano teacher Lazara Marta Herrera -- to take
him as a student.
Herrera did so for free.
She became so impressed with his talent that she gave him a piano and
suggested he apply to the Academy of Arts and Minds.
Academy Director William Machado is glad she did.
He was so taken with the 13-year-old's classical music performance of
Chopin that he welcomed the youngster into the music strand and assigned
him an academic mentor to help improve his English.
Manuel Alonso-Poch, founder of the charter school, has heard Alejandro
play and said he can't believe that someone so young has ``such depth
and deep emotional expression when playing.''
Alejandro said playing the piano relaxes him and makes him happy. He
plays Debussy and Mozart with joy and delights in showing his Cuban
roots by pounding out Guantanamera.
The future is firm in his mind: Performing in a concert hall.
He said he understands that perfection demands hard work. That means
thousands of hours of practice.
But he rewards himself by dreaming big.
``When I am alone playing I imagine myself directing an orchestra at a
concert,'' he said.
Pianist, 13, leaves Cuba to follow dream - Central Miami -
MiamiHerald.com (6 September 2009)
http://www.miamiherald.com/news/miami_dade/east/story/1218887.html
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