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{{Short description|Cuban composer, conductor, and classical guitarist (born 1939)}}
{{Infobox musical artist <!-- See Wikipedia:WikiProject Musicians -->
| name                = Leo Brouwer
| image               = Leob.jpg
| image_size        = 
| landscape          = 
| caption             = 
| background       = non_vocal_instrumentalist
| birth_name       = Juan Leovigildo Brouwer Mezquida
| birth_date         =  {{Birth date and age|1939|3|1|mf=y}}
| birth_place        = [[Havana]], [[Cuba]]
| genre               =  [[Classical music|Classical]], [[Folk music|folk]], [[Aleatoric music|aleatoric]], [[Atonal music|atonal]]
| occupation        = Musician, composer, conductor
| instrument        = Guitar
| years_active     = 1967–present
| label                = [[Egrem]], [[Zoho Music]]
}}

'''Juan Leovigildo Brouwer Mezquida''' (born March 1, 1939) is a [[Cubans|Cuban]] [[composer]], [[conducting|conductor]], and [[classical guitar]]ist. He is a Member of Honour of the [[International Music Council]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.imc-cim.org/members/members-of-honour.html |title=Members of Honour - International Music Council |website=Imc-cim.org |date=2016-04-06 |access-date=2020-03-21 |archive-date=2019-04-12 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190412160847/http://www.imc-cim.org/members/members-of-honour.html |url-status=dead }}</ref>

==Early years==
Brouwer was born in [[Havana]], [[Cuba]]. When he was 13, he began classical guitar with the encouragement of his father, who was an amateur guitarist. His teacher was [[Isaac Nicola]], who was a student of [[Emilio Pujol]], who was himself a student of [[Francisco Tárrega]]. At age 17 he performed publicly for the first time and began composing.<ref name="Whitesel">{{cite web|last1=Whitesel|first1=Tod|title=Leo Brouwer {{!}} Biography & History {{!}} AllMusic|url=https://www.allmusic.com/artist/leo-brouwer-mn0000245153/biography|website=[[AllMusic]]|access-date=28 November 2016}}</ref>

Brouwer went to the United States to study music at the [[Hartt College of Music]] of the [[University of Hartford]], and later at the [[Juilliard School]],<ref name="Whitesel" /> where he studied under [[Vincent Persichetti]] and took composition classes with [[Stefan Wolpe]].

In 1970 Brouwer played in the premiere of ''[[El Cimarrón (Henze)|El Cimarrón]]'' by [[Hans Werner Henze]] in Berlin. Together with [[Morton Feldman]], he was awarded a 1972 scholarship by the DAAD ([[German Academic Exchange Service]]) and to work as a guest composer and lecturer at the Academy of Science and Arts of Berlin. In Germany Brouwer also recorded a number of LPs for [[Deutsche Grammophon]].<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.discogs.com/viewimages?release=2876604 |title = Images for Hans Werner Henze - el Cimarrón |website = [[Discogs]] |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130121173929/http://www.discogs.com/viewimages?release=2876604 |archive-date=21 January 2013 |url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www2.deutschegrammophon.com/cat/result?&PRODUCT_NR=4498722&SearchString=4498722 |title = HENZE el Cimarrón Pearson/Zoeller - Catalogue - Deutsche Grammophon |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130121112617/http://www2.deutschegrammophon.com/cat/result?&PRODUCT_NR=4498722&SearchString=4498722 |archive-date=21 January 2013 |url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www2.deutschegrammophon.com/cat/result |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080523153824/http://www2.deutschegrammophon.com/cat/result |url-status=dead |archive-date=2008-05-23 |title=Deutsche Grammophon Gesellschaft - Catalogue - DAVID ALAGNA Le Dernier Jour d'un Condamné Roberto Alagna, Indra Thomas, Jean-Philippe Lafont |access-date=2020-03-21}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.discogs.com/viewimages?release=2348669 |title = Images for Leo Brouwer - Werke für Gitarre Solo von Gaspar Sanz, Luis… |website = [[Discogs]] |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130410180521/http://www.discogs.com/viewimages?release=2348669 |archive-date=10 April 2013 |url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name="deutschegrammophon1">{{cite web |url=http://www.deutschegrammophon.com/cat/single?PRODUCT_NR=4715892&SearchString=4498722 |title=LEO BROUWER Rara - Download - Buy Now |website=Deutschegrammophon.com |date=2002-06-03 |access-date=2020-03-21 |archive-date=2012-10-04 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121004044854/http://www.deutschegrammophon.com/cat/single?PRODUCT_NR=4715892&SearchString=4498722 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://digital-library.csun.edu/cdm4/item_viewer.php?CISOROOT=%2FIGRAdiscography&CISOPTR=297&CISOBOX=1&REC=6 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080422003524/http://digital-library.csun.edu/cdm4/item_viewer.php?CISOROOT=%2FIGRAdiscography&CISOPTR=297&CISOBOX=1&REC=6 |url-status=dead |archive-date=2008-04-22 |access-date=2020-03-21| title=CONTENTdm Collection : Item Viewer }}</ref>

==Composing and performing==
In his early compositions, Brouwer remained close to the rhythms of Cuban music, while later he was drawn to [[aleatoric music]]. During the 1960s and 70s, he became interested in the music of [[modernism|modernist]] composers such as [[Luigi Nono (composer)|Luigi Nono]] and [[Iannis Xenakis]], using indeterminacy in works such as ''Sonograma I''. Other works from this period include the guitar pieces ''Canticum'' (1968), ''La espiral eterna'' (1971), ''Parábola'' (1973) and ''Tarantos'' (1974). More recently, Brouwer's works have leaned towards [[tonality]] and [[Musical mode|modality]]. The solo guitar works ''El Decamerón Negro'' (1981), ''Paisaje cubano con campanas'' (1986), and the ''Sonata'' (1990; for [[Julian Bream]]) exemplify this tendency. His playing career ended in the early 1980s due to an injury to a tendon in his right hand middle finger.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.guitaralive.org/playlist_06_12_12.html |title=Classical Guitar Alive! Play Lists |website=Guitaralive.org |access-date=2020-03-21}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.guitarramagazine.com/ReapraisalTutor#unique |title=Guitarra Magazine - an online Guitar Publication - Practice - Performance - Technique |website=www.guitarramagazine.com |access-date=15 January 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060305044556/http://www.guitarramagazine.com/ReapraisalTutor#unique |archive-date=5 March 2006 |url-status=dead}}</ref>

Brouwer has written for guitar, piano, and percussion, and has composed orchestral works, ballet, and music for over one hundred movies, including the film ''[[Like Water for Chocolate (film)|Like Water for Chocolate]]''.<ref name="Bergeron" /> For a guitar competition in Hungary in 1979, he wrote a composition that employed 200 guitarists. He is known for a series of  studies called the Etudes Simples.<ref name="Whitesel" /> Brouwer has also transcribed Beatles songs for classical guitar.<ref name="Bergeron" />

He has performed and recorded works by [[Sylvano Bussotti]], [[Hans Werner Henze]], [[Maurice Ohana]], [[Cristóbal Halffter]], [[Leni Alexander]], [[Cornelius Cardew]], and [[Heitor Villa-Lobos]].<ref>[http://www.deutschegrammophon.com/webseries/?ID=20-21&PRODUCT_NR=4715892 Rara] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110424221849/http://www.deutschegrammophon.com/webseries/?ID=20-21&PRODUCT_NR=4715892 |date=2011-04-24 }} Recording by Leo Brouwer</ref>

==Other activities==
He has been a conductor for many symphony orchestras, including the [[BBC Concert Orchestra]], the [[Berlin Philharmonic]], and the Córdoba Symphony in Spain.<ref name="Whitesel" />

Brouwer is involved in the Concurso y Festival Internacional de Guitarra de la Habana (Havana International Guitar Festival and Competition). He frequently travels to attend guitar festivals throughout the world, and especially to other Latin American countries.<ref>{{cite book |title=Leo Brouwer: gajes del oficio|first1=Leo|last1=Brouwer|first2=Hernández|last2=Hdez|first3=Nisleidys Flores|last3=Carmona|year=2004}}</ref>

Brouwer, according to the composer himself, has never been a member of the [[Communist Party of Cuba]], but has nevertheless held a number of official posts in Cuba, including with the music department of the [[Cuban Institute of Cinematographic Art and Industry]].

==Family==
He is the grandson of Cuban composer [[Ernestina Lecuona y Casado]].<ref>{{cite book|last1=Sadie|first1=Julie Anne|last2=Samuel|first2=Rhian|title=The Norton/Grove Dictionary of Women Composers|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IvoQQU1QL_QC&pg=PA272|year=1994|publisher=W.W. Norton|isbn=978-0-393-03487-5|page=272}}</ref> His great-uncle, [[Ernesto Lecuona]], composed "[[Malagueña (song)|La Malagueña]]" and his second cousin, [[Margarita Lecuona]], composed "[[Babalú]]", which was popularized by Cuban musician and actor [[Desi Arnaz]].<ref name="Bergeron">{{cite web|last1=Bergeron|first1=Kathleen A.|title=Letter from Havana: Leo Brouwer, the Rolling Stones, and the Cuban Guitar Scene|url=https://classicalguitarmagazine.com/letter-from-havana-leo-brouwer-the-rolling-stones-and-the-cuban-guitar-scene/|website=Classical Guitar|access-date=28 November 2016|date=28 September 2016}}</ref>
Brouwer is the great-uncle of [[Al Jourgensen]] of [[Ministry (band)|Ministry]] fame. Brouwer is the brother of Jourgensen's maternal grandfather.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.wnyc.org/story/309683-ministry-lost-gospels-according-al-jourgensen/ |title=Ministry's Al Jourgensen: "God Keeps Me Around Because I Amuse Him" &#124; Soundcheck |website=Wnyc.org |date=2014-06-16 |access-date=2020-03-21}}</ref>
Brouwer has five children.

The name Brouwer is rare in Spanish speaking countries but a common name in Holland. His grandfather from his father's side was Dutch. In 2009 Leo Brouwer visited Holland to conduct a few of his works and called this "the country of my grandfather".<ref>{{cite web| title=Warme lapjesdeken voor Leo Brouwer |url=https://www.destentor.nl/zwolle/warme-lapjesdeken-voor-leo-brouwer~ae92f8c3/ |website=destentor.nl |date=2009-11-09 |access-date=2025-06-08 }}</ref>

==Selected compositions==
{{main|List of compositions by Leo Brouwer}}

'''Chamber and solo instrumental'''
* Black Decameron, composed in 1981 for American guitarist Sharon Isbin, premiered in 1983.
* 2009 ''[[Mitología de las Aguas]]'' (''Sonata No. 1 for flute and guitar'')


'''Film scores'''
* 1968: ''[[Lucía]]''
* 1992: ''[[Like Water for Chocolate (film)]]''

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Other sources==
*Andy Daly, ''[https://www.musicweb-international.com/brouwer/ Leo Brouwer]''. Music Web International, accessed June 9, 2011
*{{cite book |title=Leo Brouwer: gajes del oficio|first1=Leo|last1=Brouwer|first2=Hernández|last2=Hdez|first3=Nisleidys Flores|last3=Carmona|year=2004}}
*{{cite book |title=Leo Brouwer|first=Isabelle|last=Hernández|year=2000|publisher=Editora Musical de Cuba|location=Havana|isbn=959-7153-01-7}}

==Further reading==
'''Articles'''
* [http://www.lajiribilla.co.cu/2004/n176_09/176_18.html Hablar con Leo] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070116153728/http://www.lajiribilla.co.cu/2004/n176_09/176_18.html |date=2007-01-16 }} {{in lang|es}}
* [http://www.guitarramagazine.com/ReapraisalTutor "Let Us Play for Our Children"] ''Guitar'' magazine
* [http://granma.co.cu/2004/05/11/cultura/articulo01.html Hombre que juega] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080421203518/http://granma.co.cu/2004/05/11/cultura/articulo01.html |date=2008-04-21 }} Pedro de la Hoz, 2004 (Granma) {{in lang|es}}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20071202072146/http://www.arnauddumond.com/pdfsiteardum/textes/decameron.pdf El Decameron Negro] by [[Arnaud Dumond]] {{in lang|fr}}

'''Interviews'''
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20071202072129/http://www.arnauddumond.com/pdfsiteardum/textes/brouwer/brouwer.pdf 1] [https://web.archive.org/web/20071202072114/http://www.arnauddumond.com/pdfsiteardum/textes/brouwer/brouwer2.pdf 2] ''Entretiens avec Leo Brouwer'' by Arnaud Dumond, Françoise-Emmanuelle Denis {{in lang|fr}}
* [https://www.angelfire.com/in/eimaj/interviews/leo.brouwer.html An Interview With Leo Brouwer] by Constance McKenna, 1988 
* [http://www.guitaralive.org/playlist_06_12_12.html Leo Brouwer Artist Profile/Interview] Classical Guitar Alive! ([https://web.archive.org/web/20070710014347/http://www.kmfa.org/archives/KMFAClassicalGuitarAlive17December2006.mp3 audio recording] recovered from the [[Internet Archive]])

'''Documentaries'''
* ''Leo Brouwer–Irakere'' (1978), written and directed by José Padrón
* ''Leo Brouwer'' (2000), written and directed by José Padrón

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Brouwer, Leo}}
[[Category:1939 births]]
[[Category:20th-century Cuban classical composers]]
[[Category:20th-century Cuban guitarists]]
[[Category:20th-century male musicians]]
[[Category:21st-century classical composers]]
[[Category:21st-century guitarists]]
[[Category:21st-century Cuban male musicians]]
[[Category:Composers for the classical guitar]]
[[Category:Cuban classical composers]]
[[Category:Cuban classical guitarists]]
[[Category:Cuban film score composers]]
[[Category:Deutsche Grammophon artists]]
[[Category:Juilliard School alumni]]
[[Category:Latin Grammy Award winners]]
[[Category:Latin music composers]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Cuban male classical composers]]
[[Category:Male film score composers]]
[[Category:Cuban male guitarists]]
[[Category:Musicians from Havana]]
[[Category:Pupils of Vincent Persichetti]]
[[Category:University of Hartford Hartt School alumni]]
[[Category:Zoho Music artists]]