César Efraín Díaz Sánchez

• Artistic biography Artistic Autobiography César Efraín Díaz Sánchez Born in Cuba • Age 16 I began studying violin at age eith. From the start, music felt like a natural language — one I wanted to learn deeply and responsibly. To enter Cuba’s national arts education system, I prepared for and passed the entrance examinations with the highest possible score. I am currently a student at the Amadeo Roldán Conservatory, majoring in violin. Piano is my complementary instrument, and I also study viola as part of my broader musical training. My first public performance was at age seven, playing Oskar Rieding’s Violin Concerto in B minor. Since then, I have performed regularly as a soloist and as

first violinist of my school orchestra — appearing in several historic theatres across Havana. At eleven, I composed my first work for violin: The Violin and Its Elder. It draws from Romantic-era phrasing and incorporates Cuban musical elements such as the danzón and son — a reflection of the sounds that surrounded me while growing up. In 2023, at thirteen, I joined a community outreach project led by the Office of the Historian of Havana, assisting in violin technique classes for younger students. That same year, I played second violin in Camerata Verdecia and attended masterclasses with Professor Gersia Sánchez (a graduate of the Reina Sofía Conservatory, Spain) and violinist Andrés Cárdenes (1982 Tchaikovsky Competition laureate).

I participated in the The World’s Best Musicians Online International Competition (France) in July 2023 and received Second Prize. In July 2024, I completed the elementary level of music studies at the Paulita Concepción School of Musical Education (EEM), graduating with distinction as part of the top cohort of that year. The graduation concert was selected as the best among all EEM schools nationwide. In October 2024, I joined the Havana Orchestral Academy — a space where orchestral repertoire, chamber music, and ensemble discipline form the core of daily work. Throughout 2025, I studied with international violinists and pedagogues including Igor Karsko, Andrea Rognoni, and Borislava Iltcheva. This work was made possible through support from the

Balthasar Neumann Foundation. In February 2026, I took part in a joint program between the Havana Orchestral Academy and the Berlin Philharmonic. There, I attended a violin masterclass with Álvaro Parra, two specialized sessions on orchestral excerpts with Simone Bernardini, and advanced chamber music studies with Tobias Reifland and Knut Weber. I am currently Concertino of the Amadeo Roldán Conservatory Orchestra. I am pursuing intermediate-level studies in Violin, complementary Piano, and Viola under Maestro Dagoberto González. Additionally, I study violin at the Havana Orchestral Academy — an institution that serves as a training ground for future members of the Orquesta del Liceo Mozartiano de La Habana. For me, music is a universal language of

expression — one capable of deeply moving people. My goal is to reach listeners’ hearts by interpreting, with utmost fidelity to their composers, works from both Cuba’s national repertoire and the international canon