Fabian Almazan

Cuban-American pianist/composer Fabian Almazan found his musical roots as a child in Havana where he first became involved in the classical piano tradition. Almazan has toured his music as well as accompanied artists Linda May Han Oh, Terence Blanchard, Gretchen Parlato, John Hollenbeck, Mark Guiliana, Dave Douglass, Avishai Cohen, and Ambrose Akinmusire, among others. Most recently, he can be heard in the films Harriet, Chi‑Raq, Red Tails, and Miracle at St Anna. Almazan is the founder and director of Biophilia Records, which strives to have a positive impact on the environment and our communities. Biophilia artists collaborate with organizations that specialize in conservation, sustainability, and community outreach initiatives. As an environmentalist and naturalist, he returned to his birthplace where he made field recordings of endemic Cuban birds which were incorporated into This Land Abounds With Life, his most recent and fifth album as a leader. He is the recipient of two Grammy nominations; awards from the Copland Fund and the Cintas Foundation; the Emerging Composers Award from the Jerome Fund; a composing commission from the SWR New Jazz Meeting; and residencies at the Jazz Gallery, the Rockefeller Brothers Fund, and the Sundance Composers’ Lab. He received his bachelor’s degree in jazz piano at the Manhattan School of Music and is currently pursuing a Ph.D. at Harvard University.