About Me

Dr. Rubén E. Peláez was born in Camagüey, Cuba in 1963. He began piano lessons with his mother at the age of six. He continued his studies at the music school in his native province and then continue at the National School of Arts in Havana.   While studying in Havana, Dr. Peláez received lessons from two well-known pedagogues; Ninowska Fernandez-Brito and Frank Fernandez.  He later completed his undergraduate studies at the Higher Institute of Arts of Cuba under famous pianists Jorge Luis Prats and Roberto Urbay.  It was around this time that he participated in the international piano competitions The Marguerite Long Jacques Thibaud in Paris.

Dr. Peláez immigrated to the United States in 1987 and settled in Miami where he had further lessons with Cuban pianist Teresa Escandón.  He also was invited at the the Palm Beach Invitational Competition in Palm Beach, Florida.

He has performed extensively in solo recitals and concerts in the United States, Europe and Cuba. Performances in New York include the famous Spanish Cultural Institute in Manhattan, and in Washington, D.C. include the Phillips Collection Museum, Anderson House Museum, the Department of the Treasury, The Kennedy Center, The Netherland Embassy, Mount Vernon College, The Benjamin T. Rome School of Music at The Catholic University of America, and The American University Katzen's Arts Center among others. Peláez has also appeared at a number of venues in Florida, including Miami and Palm Beach. He has also appeared several times as a soloist with orchestras both in Cuba and in the U.S.A. He has given recital lectures and attended master classes with such pianists as Andre Watts and Mikhail Volchok.

In November 1996 his first album, the only complete collection of all 41 Danzas for piano by Ignacio Cervantes, was released by ELAN Recordings. Peláez completed his doctorate in music in 1998 at the University of Maryland in College Park, where he studied as a pupil of well-known and famous pianist Santiago Rodriguez, He is currently an adjunct faculty professor at University of Maryland Global Campus where he has been teaching online since 2012.  He is also a member of the piano faculty at The International School of Music in Bethesda, Maryland where he is currently teaching online.