Francis Schwartz

Francis Schwartz was born in the United States in 1940 and grew up in Texas, where he studied with the eminent pianist Patricio Gutierrez. Pursuing advanced studies in piano and composition, he received both Bachelor's and Master's degrees at The Juilliard School, where his principal teachers were Lonny Epstein, Louis Persinger and Vittorio Giannini. Subsequently, he was awarded a Ph.D. summa cum laude in musical aesthetics from the University of Paris.

Schwartz was the Dean of the Humanities College of the University of Puerto Rico from 1995 to 1999, where he has also held major academic and administrative positions throughout the past three decades. His music is regularly performed around the world, and he is noted for his music-theater works and innovative performance strategies.

He frequently incorporates the attending public as active participant in the artistic experience, stating:

"I wish to give both the performer and the public the opportunity to explore new ways of enjoying and discovering an artwork. During the past centuries, we have become too rigid, too fearful of the total art experience. I want the players to bathe in the wonders of their corporeal expressiveness, to savor the communicative power of facial gesture as much as they delight in a beautifully produced vocal or instrumental sound. Both artist and public grow in this discovery.”