Jorge Luis Prats (July 3rd, Camagüey, 1956)

Acknowledged as one of the best Cuban pianists. He is a performer boasting a solid academic formation and avowed artistry, evinced in his performances at major concert halls all over the world.

In 1977 he won the prestigious contest Margaritte Long-Jacques Thibaud in Paris, where he is also bestowed a Distinction to the Best Performer plus the Ravel Prize, favorable appraised by the audience and the critic an din 1979, he won a Gold Medal at the Katia Popova Musical Festival of Awardees in Pleven, Bulgaria.

He started to study piano in 1963 at the Fernández Vila Academy with Professor Bárbara Díaz Alea. In 1970, he entered the National School of Art, where he worked under the Margot de Armas`tutelage until he graduated in 1976. He afterwards kept on his studies under the significant leadership of Cuban Master in piano Frank Fernández.

For his outstanding cultural labor, he was conferred the Félix Varela Order in 1994 and the Alejo Carpentier in 1988.

In the recently-held event of Cuban music, Cubadisco 2005, the Album de Oro CD was awarded in the category of Concert Soloist, this set is containing a live recording of the Jorge Luís Prats`performances in a concert held on July 6, 1977, a few days after his success at the Marguerite Long Jacques Thibaud Contest in the Great Salon of UNESCO, Paris.