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To know contemporary classical music is to know Leo Brouwer. An acclaimed Cuban composer, conductor, Brouwer has long been celebrated as a modern-day Mozart who has birthed an inimitable body of work. While he has composed for a variety of formats, from quartets to orchestras, Brouwer's canon is most widely associated with the guitar. For starters, he is a terrific classical guitarist whose teachers come from impressive lineage. His teacher's teacher's teacher was Francisco Tárrega, widely considered "the father of classical guitar." As the saying goes, "the apple doesn't fall far from the tree."

But to truly know Brouwer is to also know that he has also composed exquisite works for solo piano. Enter, Mariel Mayz. She is a remarkable pianist, composer, and teacher who has performed at venerable institutions such as Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center. She even wrote a chamber opera that premiered during New York Opera Fest. She helped to start Porto Pianofest, an annual piano festival in Porto, Portugal. Like Brouwer, she wears many hats and moves deftly among these roles.

Quite naturally, Mayz first became aware of Brouwer via his guitar compositions. Some of these impactful compositions include "El Decamerón Negro", "Variations on a Theme of Django Reinhardt", "Tríptico", and the "Estudios Sencillos." Mayz heard some of these selections performed by João Luiz, a fellow ZOHO label Artist, and was thoroughly impressed. "I came to truly experience the detailed layers, references, and unequivocal finesse of Brouwer's sound world," she said. In fact, she credits Luiz for suggesting that she learn Brouwer's Diez Bocetos for solo piano. "This music was utterly idiomatic, imaginative, and brilliant," she reflects.

Mariel Mayz's Leo Brouwer: Cuban Sketches for Piano is a thoughtful, elegantly rendered piano solo album that features world premieres of two multi-part pieces: "Diez Bocetos" and Nuevos Bocetos para Piano.

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Mariel Mayz, solo piano; Leo Brouwer, composer

. Leo Brouwer is an acclaimed Cuban composer and conductor. He has been heralded as a modern-day Mozart. His compositions and arrangements have spanned formats from quartets to orchestras. Since Brouwer is a masterful guitarist, who was classically trained, many compositions are written expressly for guitar. He also writes for solo piano and that's where Mariel Mayz come into the picture.

This original music is dramatic, deeply emotional, and beautifully played by pianist, Mariel Mayz. This CD is completely composed by Leo Brouwer. It opens with ten suites of music under the banner of 'Diez Bocetos' and composed by Brouwer between 1961 and 2007. Each Piece is titled after a Cuban visual artist. From the title of the album, I expected a rhythmic, very Latin-fused production. Instead, I found this music to be delightfully meditative and some of the pieces are very easy-listening, soothing, and peaceful. In fact, while listening, I nearly nodded off. 'Nuevos Bocetos Para Piano' translates to new sketches for piano and consists of three Brouwer pieces he composed and completed more recently in 2021. They were sent to Mayz in early 2022. Mayz, as a gifted pianist who liberally shares her artistry and technical ability during this solo performance. The blending of these two unique talents is vividly on display and they both shine brightly in a rich, multi-colored spotlight.

     —Dee Dee McNeil, https://musicalmemoirs.wordpress.com