Rafael Puyana Michelsen

Rafael Puyana Michelsen (born October 14, 1931 in Bogotá , Colombia , † March 1, 2013 in Paris ) was a Colombian harpsichordist .

Life

Rafael Puyana comes from a musical family. At the age of six he began taking piano lessons from his aunt, a pianist. Later he was tutored by the Italian pianist Giacomo Marcenaro . When he was thirteen, he made his debut at the Teatro Colón in Bogotá.

When he traveled to the United States at the age of sixteen to study in Boston , he wanted to become a harpsichordist. For eight years he was a student of Wanda Landowska , the most famous harpsichordist of the time, who made a decisive contribution to bringing the harpsichord back into the consciousness of musicians, instrument makers and composers.

Puyana then went to Paris , where he studied composition with Nadia Boulanger , among other things .

After his return to the USA, he gave a concert in the New York City Hall , which was to establish his solo career. Since then he has traveled all over the world to give concerts and courses and has thus advanced the further occupation with the harpsichord, its music and its way of playing in the 20th century. He made music with Yehudi Menuhin , Leopold Stokowski and Andrés Segovia . Composers like Federico Mompou and Xavier Montsalvatge wrote for him. Among other things, he taught Christopher Hogwood .