The National Prize for Artistic Teaching 2025, established in 1997 by the National Center of Art Schools (CNEART) and the Higher Institute of Art (ISA) to recognize the dedication and diligence of teachers and cultural personalities in training new generations of Cuban artists and arts professionals, was awarded this Tuesday to the distinguished musical promoter, writer, scriptwriter, researcher, and pianist, Juan Manuel Piñera Infante.

According to sources close to the Ministry of Culture (MINCULT), the jury was presided over by music theorist José Loyola Fernández, National Prize for Artistic Teaching 2023 recipient; and included Marilyn Garbey Oquendo, president of the Performing Arts Association of the Union of Cuban Writers and Artists (UNEAC) and head of the Danceology department at the University of the Arts (ISA); Miguel Iglesias Ferrer, director of Danza Contemporánea de Cuba and 2018 National Dance Prize recipient; Jesús Ortega Irusta, National Music Prize 2022 recipient; and sculptor José Ramón Villa Soberón, National Plastic Arts Prize 2008 recipient.

Also present at the session were: Ariadna Padrón García, General Director of Artistic Training and Development at MINCULT; Diango González Guerra, director of CNEART; and Luis Enrique Amador Quiñones, rector of the ISA, the institution that served as the venue for the meeting.

Deliberation and Decision

Twenty-four nominations were put to a vote, which had a national scope as they came from all regions of the country. Following a cordial deliberation that acknowledged the work and career of all nominees, it was determined to award the National Prize for Artistic Teaching 2025 to Juan Manuel Piñera Infante, a prominent composer, pedagogue, and teacher at various levels of artistic education, with more than five decades of experience, the source indicates.

A Distinguished Career

Born in Havana in 1949, Piñera Infante has also been the recipient of national and international prizes awarded in France, Brazil, the United States, and the former Czechoslovakia. Notable among these are the Maestro de Juventudes Prize from the Hermanos Saíz Association, the Artista de Mérito distinction from the Cuban Institute of Radio and TV, and the 2018 National Radio Prize.

During his long career in service to national culture, Piñera Infante has distinguished himself as a member of the International Council for Electroacoustic Music, the Ibero-American Music Council, and as a Miembro de Número of the Latin American College of Art Music Composers.

As part of the most recent distinction, CNEART joins in congratulating and extends its sincerest felicitations to Master Juan Piñera.