CAYMAN PIANO FESTIVALOCT 1-10
Beneil Miller
Caymanian multi-instrumentalist Beneil Miller began his musical journey on guitar before taking formal piano lessons at the age of eight. He went on to develop his skills on bass guitar and drums, often accompanying singers at his church. Beneil later attended Berklee College of Music, graduating with a Bachelor of Music degree, where he focused on jazz piano and songwriting. Encouraged by the late Charles “Greggie G” Gregory of Cayman’s Hopscotch Recording Studios, he also discovered his voice as a singer. Beneil’s music draws on a diverse range of influences, blending reggae, jazz, dancehall, and gospel. He has performed in numerous Cayman Arts Festival events and is passionate about sharing his knowledge with the next generation of musicians. He teaches jazz to a group of high school students and, in June 2024, led the CAF Jazz Group Rush Hour in its debut performance at a sold-out Music at the Library concert. For the Cayman Piano Festival, Beneil will explore and reimagine songs from the Cayman Islands through his distinctive musical voice.
Programme
Cayman Islands - Beneil Miller Cardile Gone To Cuba - Julia Hydes You Have To Wait Til’ My Ship Comes In - as sung by Julia Hydes Dog War In Watering Place Beef In The Cane Piece - as sung by Edna Fields South East By South - as sung by Burnell Dixon Song Of The Yam - Helen Lambert Old Cayman Moon - Dalmain Ebanks Rise, Arise My Charming Young Girl as sung by Rachel Rankine A Caymanian Folk MedleySvetlana Smolina
Svetlana Smolina is an internationally acclaimed pianist who has performed with leading orchestras and at many of the world’s most distinguished concert halls and festivals, including Carnegie Hall, the Salzburg Festival, Hollywood Bowl, the Royal Opera House Covent Garden, and Rome’s Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia. Her international collaborations include the New York Philharmonic, Mariinsky Orchestra, St. Petersburg Philharmonic, Orchestre National de France, and Rotterdam Philharmonic. A Grand Prix winner of several international piano competitions, she has also collaborated with renowned artists including Vadim Repin, Ida Haendel, Narek Hakhnazaryan, Kian Soltani, and Charlie Siem. Smolina is also an award-winning recording artist, with a discography spanning Rachmaninoff, Chopin, Scriabin, Britten, and Stravinsky, and recordings released by Universal Music, Warner Music, Pentatone, and other leading labels. Her performances have been broadcast internationally by NPR, BBC, PBS, and other major networks, while her recording of Stravinsky’s Les Noces with Valery Gergiev received an International Classical Music Award. In 2026, she was invited to join the Recording Academy as a GRAMMY® Voting Member. Alongside her performing career, she is a dedicated educator and has directed the Piano Program at the Philadelphia International Music Festival since 2011.
William Chapman Nyaho
Dr. William Chapman Nyaho is a Ghanaian-born pianist and educator whose career spans international performance, teaching, and advocacy for music by composers of African descent. He studied at Oxford University, the Eastman School of Music, the University of Texas at Austin, and the Conservatoire de Musique de Genève. An active soloist and chamber musician, he has performed throughout Europe, Africa, the Caribbean, and the United States, and has held teaching and visiting professorships at universities and music institutions across the country. He currently serves on the piano faculty at Pacific Lutheran University and Interlochen Center for the Arts. A passionate advocate for African and African-diaspora composers, Nyaho is the editor of the acclaimed five-volume Piano Music of Africa and the African Diaspora, published by Oxford University Press, for which he received the 2022 MTNA-Frances Clark Keyboard Pedagogy Award. His recordings include solo works by African-diaspora composers and collaborations with the Nyaho/Garcia Duo. He is also a sought-after clinician and adjudicator and serves in leadership roles within the music education community.
Aldo Lopez-Gavilan
Aldo López-Gavilán is a Cuban-born pianist, composer, and improviser whose work bridges the concert hall, jazz stage, and musical traditions of Cuba. Born in Havana into a family of classical musicians, he began piano studies at seven and made his professional debut with the Matanzas Symphony Orchestra at the age of twelve. His international career has taken him to major concert halls and festivals across the Americas and Europe, including Carnegie Hall, Jazz at Lincoln Center, the Kennedy Center, Royal Festival Hall, and Piano aux Jacobins in Toulouse. He has collaborated with leading artists including Claudio Abbado, Chucho Valdés, Joshua Bell, Arturo Sandoval, and the Harlem Quartet. As a composer, López-Gavilán has created more than 100 works, drawing on classical architecture, Cuban rhythms, jazz harmony, and improvisation. His piano concerto Emporium has been performed by orchestras across the United States, Cuba, Colombia, and Russia and was released commercially by Reference Recordings in 2026 with the Boulder Philharmonic Orchestra under Michael Butterman. His album Havana Meets Harlem with Harlem Quartet received a 2025 Latin Grammy nomination for Best Instrumental Album. Whether performing a concerto, solo recital, chamber programme, or his own improvisation-driven music, López-Gavilán brings these diverse influences together in a distinctive and deeply personal musical voice.
Aldo Lopez-Gavilan’s detailed bio can be found here.
For more information and to purchase or reserve tickets please contact us at tel. 922-5550 or email enquiries@caymanartsfestival.comTHANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT!
EVENT SPONSORS
CONTACT
P.O. BOX 11811, KY1-1009, Geroge Town Grand Cayman Cayman Islands enquiries@caymanartsfestival.com (345) 922-5550