Hilario Duran
2013 TMA149 Musician of the Year Award Recipient
By Roberto Occhipinti
“Hilario Durán is an unparalleled pianist, as well as being a composer and arranger of the first order… one of the greatest Cuban pianists of the 20th century.” – CHUCHO VALDÉS
Hilario Durán moved to Toronto from Cuba to play with Jane Bunnett and the Spirits of Havana in 1996. Already known internationally through his work as arranger, pianist, and musical director with Arturo Sandoval for nine years, he toured worldwide and performed with Dizzy Gillespie and Michel Legrand, among many others.
In Cuba, Hilario performed with the legendary Orquesta Cubana de Música Moderna, and was invited by former leader Chucho Valdés to replace him as pianist when Valdés started the famous group Irakere. Latin Jazz Corner called Hilario one of the “contemporary Cuban pianists that moved jazz into the 21st century” and he is considered to be one of the world’s most innovative creators of Afro-Cuban music and Latin jazz.
Hilario has won two JUNO Awards, and over a dozen National Jazz Awards. In 2007, he was awarded the Chico O’Farrill lifetime achievement award for his outstanding contributions to Afro-Cuban and Latin jazz. He was also awarded the “Premio EGREM,” one of Cuba’s most prestigious music prizes, for Best Arranger of the Year in 1982-83.
Hilario is an adjunct piano professor and ensemble director in the jazz faculty at Humber College. In addition to touring across Canada and internationally as a soloist and with his own trio, he has given workshops on both sides of the border — most notably in Banff and at Oberlin Conservatory. He also played internationally with the DWR Big Band, which featured his own compositions.
Since his arrival in Toronto, Hilario has contributed tremendously to our musical landscape, having collaborated with jazz and Latin artists such as Jane Bunnett, Luis Mario Ochoa, David Buchbinder, and Roberto Occhipinti. In the classical field, he has performed with and composed and arranged for groups such as the Gryphon Trio, Quartetto Gelato and the Annex Quartet. He will also be performing with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra in 2015, premiering his concerto for Trio and Orchestra in a tribute to the Pan Am Games.
Hilario makes his home here in Toronto, where he lives with his family. The Toronto Musicians’ Association is proud to name Hilario Durán our Musician of the Year for 2013.
