Rafael Puyana

Rafael Puyana Michelsen (born 14 October, 1931 in Bogotá) is a Colombian harpsichordist.

Puyana began piano lessons at age 6 with his aunt and at age 13 made his debut at the Teatro Colón in Bogotá. At age 16 he went to Boston to continue his piano studies at the New England Conservatory. He subsequently studied harpsichord with Wanda Landowska and composition with Nadia Boulanger, in Paris.

Puyana made his début as a harpsichordist in New York , in 1957, and in London in 1966. He has performed with figures like Yehudi Menuhin, Leopold Stokowski, and Andrés Segovia. Composers of the stature of Federico Mompou and Xavier Montsalvatge have dedicated compositions to him.

Aside from concerts, Puyana has taught. Christopher Hogwood and Elizabeth de la Porte were amongst his students. Puyana has also collected historical instruments, such as a superb, 3-manual harpsichord of 1740 by H.A. Hass.

Sources

* The Grove Concise Dictionary of Music, published by Oxford University Press, 1994.