Jorge Amado
Full bio
Jorge Amado (b. 1997)
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Born in Havana, Cuba, Amado is a composer, violinist, and music educator whose work stands out for its deep exploration of Cuban cultural heritage, fusing Afro-Cuban traditions with the language of contemporary classical music. His output, marked by remarkable aesthetic diversity, combines the rhythmic vitality and sonic imagery of his homeland with refined formal craftsmanship, resulting in a distinctive voice where identity, lyricism, and experimentation coexist. Recognized as one of the most dynamic voices of his generation, Amado has built an international career as a composer, performer, and educator.
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His musical training began at the National School of Music (ENA), where he graduated with Highest Honors (Título de Oro) in 2016. He later earned a Bachelor’s degree in Composition and Violin from the University of the Arts of Cuba (ISA), once again graduating with Highest Honors and receiving the distinction of “Most Outstanding Graduate” of his class. He studied composition with Juan Piñera and violin with Carmen Amador, and further honed his craft through masterclasses with Eddie Mora, Ileana Pérez, Martin Rokeach, and Boris Alvarado, among others.
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In 2022, Amado moved to the United States to pursue a Master of Arts in Music Composition (with Distinction) at DePaul University in Chicago, studying with Dr. Osnat Netzer and Dr. Christopher Wendell Jones. During his time at DePaul, he served as a Teaching Assistant in Aural Skills and Music Theory and performed with the contemporary +20 Ensemble, directed by Michael Lewanski.
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As a composer and performer, Amado has been featured at major international festivals and venues, including the Mozart+ Festival (Salzburg, 2022), Young Euro Classic (Berlin, 2023), Rheingau Musik Festival (Germany, 2023), the Havana Contemporary Music Festival (2016–2022), Habana Clásica (2019), the Mozart Festival of Havana, the Sacred Music Festival, the Ruta de Mozart Festival, Música Nova, the Ear Taxi Festival (Chicago), the Virginia Arts Festival, the Annapolis Chamber Music Festival, and the Shenandoah Valley Bach Festival (U.S.). In 2019, as part of Habana Clásica, he presented a special concert featuring instruments built by the luthiers of the Office of the Historian of Havana, performing exclusively his own works with the Impulsus String Quartet under his direction.
His catalog spans solo, chamber, orchestral, and stage works. His compositions have been commissioned and performed by leading artists and ensembles such as the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, Catalyst Quartet, Camerata Romeu, Havana Chamber Orchestra, Lyceum Orchestra of Havana, National Symphony Orchestra of Cuba, Niurka González, Desirée Ruhstrat, Gabriel Cabezas, the ~Nois Quartet, Flannau Duo, Quijote Duo, Eight Strings & a Whistle Trio, Fear No Music Ensemble, Chicago Jazz Philharmonic, the Heredia Symphony Orchestra (Costa Rica), the Alexandria Symphony Orchestra (U.S.), the José White String Quartet (Mexico), and the Cuban-American Youth Orchestra, among others.
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In July 2023, Amado appeared as both violinist and composer with the Cuban-American Youth Orchestra, conducted by Daiana García, in a concert held at Minnesota Orchestra Hall celebrating the International Day of Music. On that occasion, renowned pianist Jon Kimura Parker premiered his work Del canto y la rítmica in its chamber orchestra version. In October of the same year, his Concertino for Flute, Viola, Cello and Strings premiered at Merkin Hall in New York, featuring Eight Strings & a Whistle as soloists and the United Nations Orchestra conducted by Predrag Vasić.
His music has been heard in prominent concert halls across Europe and the Americas, including the Konzerthaus Berlin, the Großer Saal of the Stiftung Mozarteum (Salzburg), Chicago Symphony Center, the Auditorium Theatre, Concertgebouw Amsterdam, Wiener Konzerthaus, and Merkin Concert Hall in New York. Musicians from the Civic Orchestra of Chicago, Houston Symphony Orchestra, Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, and Minnesota Orchestra have also performed his works in chamber and orchestral programs.
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Throughout his career, Amado has received numerous distinctions, including First Prize at the “Harold Gramatges” Composition Competition (2015 and 2021), the Ojalá Symphonic Creation Prize (2018, chaired by Leo Brouwer), First Prize at the “Nuestra América” String Quartet Competition (2019, Mexico), First Prize at the 8SW Composition Competition (U.S., 2018), the Ibero-American Performance Award (2020), the Iberorquestas Young Performer Award (2020), and Second Prize at the 2025 Green Mountain Chamber Music Festival Call for Scores. His first monographic album, Ofrenda, received the Cubadisco Award (2022) in two categories.
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In 2023, Amado was nominated for a Jeff Award for his original music for Measure for Measure by William Shakespeare, presented at the Chicago Shakespeare Theater under the direction of Henry Godínez, in collaboration with trumpeter and composer Orbert Davis.
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Amado’s creative activity also extends to audiovisual media. He has composed original scores for short films, documentaries, videodance projects, and feature films, most notably El mundo de Nelsito, directed by acclaimed Cuban filmmaker Fernando Pérez. His discography includes six national and two international albums, featuring him as composer, performer, or both. These include ...And nothing remains the same... by Eight Strings & a Whistle (Ravello Records) and Nuestra América 2019–2020 by the José White String Quartet, which features his String Quartet No. 6 “Carnavalesco”. He was also commissioned to compose a work for Belgian accordionist Didier Laloy for a recording project produced in Belgium.
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He has shared the stage with distinguished artists such as Orbert Davis, Jon Kimura Parker, Niurka González, Nicole Mitchell, Dal Niente Ensemble, Tomeka Reid, Augusto Blanca, and Anolán González, and has collaborated as arranger with the embassies of Poland, Portugal, Italy, and Norway in concerts held in Havana.
Amado’s music has been performed in Cuba, the United States, the Netherlands, Germany, Austria, Italy, Costa Rica, France, Chile, Brazil, Mexico, and Spain, consolidating his presence in the international contemporary music scene. His catalog encompasses solo, chamber, vocal, electroacoustic, and orchestral works, including his Violin Concerto No. 1 “Equinoccio”, winner of the Ojalá Symphonic Creation Prize (2018), which he premiered as soloist with the Lyceum Orchestra of Havana under the direction of José Antonio Méndez.
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Alongside his artistic career, Amado has developed a strong academic and critical profile. He has taught Musical Analysis and Music History at the ENA, worked as a music engraver for Leo Brouwer’s publishing house Ediciones Espiral Eterna, and published essays and articles on musical creation and aesthetics in Cuban cultural journals such as La Jiribilla and Toda la Danza.
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He is a member of the Cuban Music Copyright Agency (ACDAM) and the Spanish Society of Authors and Publishers (SGAE).
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Currently based in Chicago, Amado serves as a Teaching Artist and Assistant to the Artistic Director of the Chicago Jazz Philharmonic, while maintaining an active private studio in violin, viola, and composition. He has also served as a violin instructor at the Merit School of Music and at the Jazz Academy of the Chicago Jazz Philharmonic.
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October 2025 – jorgeamadomusic.com