Claudio José Domingo Brindis de Salas Garrido (1852-1911) was a Cuban violin virtuoso and composer. He made his performance debut in Havana at the age of 11, playing with pianist Van der Gutch. The following year he toured across Cuba with his brother and father, and in 1869, the family toured in Veracruz. After relocating to Paris and studying with Hubert Léonard and Charles Dancla, he entered the Paris Conservatoire where he won a first prize in violin in 1871. He then toured across Europe to great critical acclaim.
In 1875, he was appointed director of the Conservatoire de Haiti, and in subsequent years he toured extensively in Venezuela, Cuba, Mexico, St. Petersburg, New York, Barcelona, Santo Domingo, San Juan, Pureto Rico, Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago, Tenerife, Ronda, Spain, and Argentina. His contemporaries regarded his as “the most extraordinary of the black musicians of the nineteenth century… an unprecedented case in the musical history of the continent.”
He was bestowed numerous honors including being made a member of the French Légion d’Honneur and receiving the title of Baron de Salas by the German Kaiser. He was also gifted a Stradivarius violin in Buenos Aires.
Although he was predominantly a performer, he composed several works for violin.
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