Described by the New Millennium Guitar Magazine as "a superb guitarist as well as a first-rate composer and arranger" José Manuel Lezcano has captivated audiences on four continents. His programs featuring both classical and Andean music have taken him as recitalist, collaborative musician, and concerto soloist from Carnegie Recital Hall in New York City to major venues and festivals in Ecuador, Colombia, Peru, Brazil, China, the Czech Republic and Germany.

Born in Havana, Cuba in 1960, Lezcano was invited to join the faculty of Keene State College in New Hampshire in 1991, where is Professor of Music and teaches courses in guitar, music theory, and Latin American music. He studied at Peabody Conservatory, University of South Carolina, and Florida State University where his teachers included Aaron Shearer and Christopher Berg. He also participated in master classes taught by Michael Lorimer, Sharon Isbin, and Leo Brouwer the noted Cuban guitarist and composer who referred to him as "a magnificent guitarist --un guitarist a magnifico."

Jose's solo CD, Latin Images, a compilation of solo works from the Hispanic world (with two duos recorded with John Mantegna) has received critical praise. "Things get off to a good start with strong rhythmic attention to Lauro's Natalia with its engaging 3/4:6/8 patterns....the cross-string trills in the Scarlatti sonatas, often excluded from these pieces in favor of single-string ornamentation, are an artistic inclusion...this is an enjoyable recording with an interesting, entertaining and well-played programme." Music Web International, Review of Jose Lezcano's "Latin Images."

Lezcano’s compositions are published by Alry and Tuscany. They include the Sonatina Tropical (for flute and guitar); Cuban Sketches (for guitar and two flutes); and Poemas Concertantes (for flute, guitar and chamber orchestra). His works have been performed by leading virtuosi such as William Bennett, Ricardo Cobo, and Antigoni Goni. Active also as an ethnomusicologist, Lezcano has published articles in Soundboard, the Latin American Music Review and the Latino Encyclopedia.

Among his numerous awards:

* First prize, 1982 MTNA National Guitar Competition; * 1998 Fulbright Award in Ecuador to teach, perform, and research indigenous guitar traditions; * 2002 Commissioned Composer of the Year (New Hampshire Music Teacher's Association); * 2003 New Hampshire State Arts Council Individual Artist Fellowship; * 2003 Keene State College's Award for Distinction in Research and Scholarship in recognition of his activities as performer, scholar, and composer. * 2007 Commissioned Composer of the Year Fellowships from the New Hampshire Music Teacher's Association; a New Hampshire State Arts Council Individual Artist Fellowship; * He is most recently the recipient of a 2007 commission to write a new work for the Rochester Folk Arts Guild, funded by the New York State Music Fund and Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors, and of a commission from the NHMTA for which he is writing a viola concerto.

Equipment: Jose uses a 1972 Robert Ruck cedar top, Brazilian Rosewood sides, Classical guitar with D'Addario hard tension or Savarez Red cord and Galli sometimes. He also uses a 2001 Peter Oberg solid spruce top.

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